


Run This Town

by TheMeekShallInheritTheTARDIS



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth is stubborn, Annabeth wants to work alone, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Everyone is a hero and doesn't know it, F/M, Museum/superhero AU, Percy is a Dork, Sally Jackson is hero Mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 19:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 40,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3780835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMeekShallInheritTheTARDIS/pseuds/TheMeekShallInheritTheTARDIS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Annabeth is a superhero named Night Owl who just wants to protect her City like her Mom did. Typhoon and his big head aren't helping. And neither is the new guy, Percy Jackson, who is getting under her skin in a different way. Superhero AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So I'm slowly putting all my fics on here so they're all in one place instead of spread out across the internet (I have no consistency, they're everywhere) and this is one of my favourites, my Superhero AU. Capes and powers are my weakness.

“Do you, I don’t know, ever actually leave the museum? You always seem to be here” Piper greeted, wandering into the staff room gracefully and sitting herself down on one of the old sofas, looking carefree and effortlessly gorgeous as always. Annabeth had this theory that Piper had superpowers that made her look perfect all the time, and so far she had not once been proved wrong; At the staff party last year, Annabeth had puked in the wastepaper basket after several shots (she would never take anything from Leo again) and Piper hadn’t even broken a sweat, just took the alcohol like a champ and continued to dance in those killer heels she wore. Although, considering the amount of Superheroes in Olympus, Annabeth would not be surprised if Piper actually did have powers. Piper did seem like the hero type.

“I can vouch that she does; and she always seems to come home the minute I get Luke’s shirt off” Thalia butted in from across the room, holding a coffee in her hand and giving Annabeth an irritated look, made more threatening by the thick eyeliner she wore, smudged from where she’d rubbed it drowsily. It wasn’t Annabeth’s fault that Thalia and Luke couldn’t just hurry up and do it before she got home; and always decided to get personal on the couch instead of somewhere more private, like the bedroom Thalia seems to forget she owns. Seriously, Annabeth is scarred for life, coming home to find her two best friends defiling her couch. She’s had it deep-cleaned. Twice.

“Maybe that’s why I’m always here; preventing myself from being scarred for life” Annabeth muttered, and Piper snickered, budging up on the couch as the rest of the staff filed in, yawning and grabbing coffee from the old machine that had been in the staff room since before she started working here. Annabeth caught Piper staring at the cute guy that worked on the Roman section of the museum, Thalia’s younger brother Jason, and she grinned.

“Ask him out” She whispered, nudging her. Piper shook her head, her braids flicking dangerously close to her neighbour’s faces. Frank flinched a little as the hair whipped his cheek, and Annabeth hid her smirk.

“I can’t; what if he says no?” She whispered back, watching the blonde curse as the coffee machine spluttered pathetically.

“To you? He’d have to be crazy”

And that was true, because Piper was a knockout, and really sweet too.

 

“Alright settle down” A voice called, and the boss, Chiron, entered the room in his wheelchair. Annabeth loved Chiron; he was like a father to her, and as the leader of the superheroes of Olympus, he was one of the only ones she could really be herself around, because he was the only one who knew both her identities- besides Thalia of course. He adjusted the collar of his tweed jacket and smiled around the room.

“Glad to see you all here on time” He said pointedly, eyeing Leo, who had already drank two cups of coffee and was twitching with his hyperactive energy. It was rare to actually see Leo at work; even when he was here he spent his time racing around the corridor or blowing stuff up in the basement. Annabeth was sure he should’ve been fired by now, but she assumed that Chiron had a soft spot for him. There were a few chuckles, before Chiron gestured for everyone to be quiet again.

“We have a new employee today, who will begin working in the Greek mythology section, as the weapons cleaner” He announced. Annabeth sighed in relief; they’d been missing someone to touch up the weapons since Clarisse got moved over to customer management (literally the worst place for her, she wasn't a 'people' person), they’d been looking far too dull and dusty, and as it wasn’t her job, Annabeth couldn’t just go and do it herself. Piper had to wrestle her away from the cleaning supplies, and she sulked for hours.

“Where is he boss?” Thalia asked, looking around the room obviously “He kind of needs to be here to do the job”

“Well, he’s already gone to work; setting an example to the rest of you, who enjoy slacking off. Now go on, we’ll be opening soon” Chiron said, and everyone got to their feet, trudging out of the room in various states of fatigue.

“I wonder what he’s like; do you think he’s cute?” Piper asked, and Annabeth raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“Why does it matter?” She asked “You like someone else”

Piper just shrugged and smiled.

“Its always nice to have a good-looking guy to look at, even if you’re not interested. It just makes you feel good” She said, and then she sauntered away to her department, leaving Annabeth shaking her head in amusement behind her.

 

Annabeth liked her job; she liked that she could lose herself in the art, making sure that it was all in order and the descriptions on displays and artefacts were correct. She liked that she could sit and translate the Greek and Latin for the public, and solve the riddles of old forgotten languages and what they were trying to say. Annabeth was reading through the huge chunk of Latin she’d been handed by Silena, slowly working her way through, when Piper hopped onto her desk, scattering her notes and important translations that should stay in a certain order. Annabeth could just throttle her.

“What?” She snapped, trying not to lose her focus, scrambling for her notes. She could feel Piper’s ‘I’ve got gossip’ grin glaring into her head, and she knew the woman wouldn't leave easily. She hated that grin; all it did was stop her from getting much needed work done.

“I’ve just seen the new guy, and he is hotter than that one statue on the third floor- you know the one we can’t go near anymore?” She beamed, apparently over the moon that the new employee was hot. Annabeth just huffed as she lost where she was up to, and glared up at Piper.

“I’m trying to work, Pipes” She snapped, annoyed now she'd have to spend more time re-organising her system.

“Oh come on, you don’t enjoy that, do you? Take a break, before you get an aneurysm” She said, trying to pull the text away. Annabeth held on tight and practically growled until Piper got the message and left, laughing the whole way. She never quite understood that work time was alone time. Although, Piper probably thought she was doing Annabeth some good. She’d be back at lunchtime with more gossip, Annabeth could already predict it.

This happened constantly throughout the day; first it was all the girls who approached, grinning from ear to ear as they relayed stories about the attractive new guy as Annabeth was the only one who hadn't gone to look for herself; they should know by now that she really didn't care. Drew didn’t leave for an hour, at which point Annabeth was banging her head against the desk because Drew was really annoying when she rambled about stupid things. Which meant that Annabeth was in a foul mood leaving work.

Ergo, Annabeth was in a foul mood when she went on patrol, and that was bad news for every criminal she encountered.

 

Annabeth was one of Olympus’ finest superheroes; using her powers to protect her city from harm, and she did a damn good job. Her alter-ego was named Night Owl- because Annabeth’s powers included sprouting feathers and flying up high, and being able to spot crimes from miles away. She was also scarily smart, but that wasn’t exactly a superpower no matter how much she wanted it to be. She didn't have big, impressive powers like the rest of the team, but she was good at what she did, and she got on with her job just fine.

“Maybe you’ll think twice about trying to run next time” She hissed, as she threw a guy into the back of a police truck with enough force to make the whole vehicle wobble.

“Jeez Night Owl, what twisted your feathers?” Nico asked, slamming the doors and trying not to look impressed. He did a terrible job. Annabeth tried not to look too smug; she knew she was badass.

“Nothing, just work. Everyone is going on about this ‘hot new guy’, and it’s annoying” She grumbled, and he laughed, adjusting his gun at his belt.

“Yeah, we had that problem about a month back; but Jackson has left now, so it’s all calmed down. He didn’t seem to settle very well” He said, and Annabeth shrugged. She noticed that he looked a little disappointed. She always wondered about Nico’s preferences, since he always seemed to give Blue Spark a second glance, but then who was she to judge? Blue Spark was pretty eye-catching in that skin-tight suit of his. It almost wasn’t fair.

“Yeah well, I’m hoping all the buzz will be gone by tomorrow, and I can actually do my work” She said, thinking about that Latin she had to read through.

“If it doesn’t, just demand to be paid for saving our asses and quit your day job; we’ll make a superheroes tax or something and you can live on that” Nico suggested, dark eyes looking mischievous. Annabeth smiled.

“I’ll consider it. See ya Sherrif”

“Bye Night Owl”

Nico got into the van and Annabeth took off into the sky, looking for more criminals to beat up. Maybe her irritation would wear off by the time she got home.

“Hey! Nice to see you!” A voice called, and Annabeth sighed. Great, just what she needed. Typhoon had found her.

Typhoon was a strange one to judge, Annabeth thought. Chiron had nothing but disapproving admiration for him, whilst some of the others got annoyed that he always swooped in and took their catch. He didn’t seem to be a part of the whole superhero club that Annabeth and the others were in; he did his own thing, all on his own, showing up out of no where a few years ago and jumping in on the action- She envied the alone thing, but not when he took all the credit for her work. Annabeth was a little torn on her opinion of him; Typhoon was impulsive, and didn’t seem to have much of a brain in that head of his, but he was brave and he helped her out on her patrols. The problem was the guy wouldn’t shut up for two minutes, or leave her alone for the same amount of time. On a night where Annabeth wanted to put away criminals in peace, she’d rather avoid the irritating rouge hero.

“Typhoon” She greeted stiffly, and he swooped in on his signature wave, flying along beside her with a grin. He always wore a skin-tight suit, black and blue like dark water, that covered every inch of him except his mouth and strong jaw. He was leaner and shorter than Blue Spark, but Annabeth knew from experience he was just as strong. Sometimes she wondered if there was more power in him than he was revealing, but then she’d hate to be a hypocrite and pry into his life when she hated everyone prying into hers. Especially him.

“You seem a little stressed from the way you threw that guy into the Sheriff’s truck Wise Girl; what’s up?” He asked, that same smug grin on his stupid face. She gritted her teeth.

“Don’t call me Wise Girl”

“Oh right, you’re Night Owl now, ever since I helped save your ass from that fire” He boasted, and she rolled her eyes.

“Inferno caused that fire; it was part of the plan” She said, shaking her head feathers self-consciously. Most of them were charred black from the flames still, even years later.

“What, the plan to roast you like a chicken? Just thank me and I’ll move on” Typhoon said, and Annabeth pulled a face. She admits the plan went a little awry, but she did not need saving. Typhoon just butted in as usual. She was not going to inflate his head even more by showing any gratitude.

“Are you giving me the silent treatment? Aw, come on Night Owl, don’t be like that” He said, following as Annabeth settled on a rooftop where she could see the majority of town. The cars weaving in and out of each other, hurrying home full of Christmas presents ready to be wrapped; shoppers meandering down the streets, arms weighed down by bags from various shops. It was like a scene from a movie, all it needed was some snow.

“You got all your presents yet?” Typhoon asked “Put them under the tree?”

“I don’t really do all that stuff anymore” Annabeth shrugged. Typhoon looked appalled; well, his jaw did. He gaped, and Annabeth just focused on the shoppers and the happy couples and the small children swinging off their parent’s arms.

“You don’t celebrate Christmas? Why not?” He demanded. He sounded like a child who’d just heard that their friend didn’t like sweets. As if it was some sort of crime.

“I just don’t, I don’t have to explain myself to you” Annabeth snapped, the way she always did when people asked her questions.

“Come on, we don’t know each other outside of these costumes. Its not like I’m gonna show up at your house with a turkey and a tree. You don’t have to be so mysterious” He said.

“I’m not, I just don’t wanna talk about it”

“You’re not going to make friends with an attitude like that” Typhoon chimed. Annabeth glared.

“I don’t want to make friends” She told him “Especially not with idiots like you”

“Aw, now my mom always says that if she calls you an idiot she cares” He sing-songed.

“Don’t think I won’t push you off this roof if you don’t shut up” She threatened. If anything, Typhoon just looked happier.

“Ah, there’s that feisty Wise-Girl that I know and Love, swearing and getting all her feathers rumpled- ack!”

Annabeth hadn’t even registered pushing Typhoon; she just saw him slip off the edge of the roof and out of sight, the sound of several trash cans being hit-full force reaching her ears a few seconds later. Annabeth looked up in content, and saw a familiar shape springing across the rooftops.

“I’ll take you seriously next time” Typhoon groaned, and Annabeth grinned.

“Its always nice to see you Typhoon, but my shift is over; have fun with Blue Spark”

And she took off, humming slightly, listening to Blue Spark laughing at Typhoon's misfortune. She would have to push Typhoon off a building more often, the higher the better.

“Hey- oh really Thals?!” Annabeth yelped, almost falling back out of the window when she found Thalia stark naked on the floor. Thalia grabbed a blanket that had been crumpled on the floor and covered herself, trying to look as dignified as possible whilst Annabeth pointedly looked away, far too used to sights like this when she came home.

“At least we were done this time! Take your feathers off, before he comes back from the bathroom!” She hissed, looking toward the closed bathroom door frantically. Despite being Thalia’s long-term boyfriend of five years, Luke still didn’t know that Annabeth was Night Owl, and Thalia was the famous (but very much retired) Huntress. Thalia didn’t want him to know in case it put him in danger (because the bad guys liked using loved-ones as bait) and Annabeth didn’t push her.

“Do you even know you own a bedroom? With a door? A room that I won’t go in?” Annabeth whisper-shouted, and Thalia rolled her eyes.

“Could you at least call before you come home?”

“Oh I’m sorry, let me just pull my phone out of my non-existent pockets!”

“Get a damn ear piece!”

“I’ll give you a-“

The bathroom door opened and Annabeth dived across the room, sprinting for her bedroom and slamming the door behind her just as Luke emerged. She leant against the door and let out a breath of relief, sliding down to the floor.

"Sorry Annie!" Luke laughed from the other room, and she rolled her eyes.

"Tell that to my offended eyeballs!" She yelled back. She heard he and Thalia giggling. Assholes.

Annabeth let her powers recede as she leaned against her door, return to her normal self, all the feathers vanishing and her eyes turning from orange to grey. Her hair turned back to its usual blonde curls and she gratefully unzipped the suit she wore. It got a little tight after a long shift, pulled at her aching muscles, and she always enjoyed taking it off after a long night.

She only just managed to drag herself up and to bed instead of passing out right there, though how she had no clue. She just wanted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

“Morning Chiron” Percy greeted, as his boss wheeled past him in the hallway, what looked like a large stone on his knees. The older man smiled, giving Percy a warm look. Percy knew that Chiron was happy that he was finally working at the museum- he’d been trying to hire him for months- but Percy wanted to try working away from his old high school teacher before getting back under his wing. Like his time in the police department; it was fun, but it wasn’t really his thing. He had a different way of fighting crime. Maybe working for Chiron would settle him a little. God knows he needed that.

“Good Morning Percy, how was your first day?” Chiron smiled, pausing his wheeling for a moment to greet him, and Percy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.   
“The work was good; the attention was not. Do you know your female employees are like sharks?” He asked, remembering the practically predatory way they had all passed him by, making him nervous to the point of almost dropping the precious artefacts he was holding. Chiron chuckled. 

“You’re just new, they’ll get over it. Have you introduced yourself to my favourite employee? I need to have something taken to her anyway”   
“Uh, its not Drew is it? Chiron she wrote her number on my hand in sharpie. It won’t come off” Percy said, showing him the black numbers on his palm. He'd been trying to get it off in the shower that very morning, to no avail; it sat there on his hand like she'd tattooed it on him. Chiron sighed. 

“Its not Drew, and I’ll have a word with her. Her name is Annabeth, you’ll find her on the third floor; Piper can direct you in the right way” He said, handing Percy the thick stone tablet that looked bigger than his head from his lap. Percy took it and whistled, being careful with it; one slip up and the thing could crumble. It had strange words carved into it, a different language, probably very old and very dead.   
“What’s she gonna do with this, lift weights with it?” He asked. Chiron looked amused.   
“She could, but no; she’s going to translate it. Annabeth is our smartest employee, a specialist in Ancient Greek and Latin, many modern and dead languages, and even hieroglyphics to an extent. She’ll know what to do, just hand it over” 

 

Percy nodded, trying not to let it show that he thought the tablet was actually heavy. He went on his way and headed to the third floor, and right on cue he found Piper. Piper had introduced herself the previous morning, sweet talking him with coffee whilst looking him over, less predatory than the other girls; she was very pretty and friendly, but Percy had seen his co-worker Jason looking after her all dreamy-eyed so he knew that if there was any girl in the museum he wanted, Piper wasn’t her. He’d hate to make enemies on his first day, and he and Jason had gotten along really well. 

“Well hello there, what brings you up here?” She greeted, smiling sweetly “Wait, let me guess; that rock is for Annabeth”   
“You’d be right” Percy replied, frowning at the thing “Can she really read this?”   
“Annabeth is a huge language nerd, but luckily for her she’s cute. She’ll eat that for breakfast, she finished the last one in a day, and that was with me talking to her” 

Percy tried not to be impressed, but looking at the tablet and the fact that it was not in English he couldn’t help it. He knew a little ancient Greek, he studied it for a while, but a whole chunk of text like this? No way.   
“Do you know where the cute nerd is?” He asked hopefully. Piper grinned.   
“She’s right this way. I can’t wait to see her face when she sees how right I was”   
“About what?” 

Piper didn’t answer, just led the way down the hallways full of glass cases, filled with artefacts that Percy would be maintaining soon, once he was done with the floor below. Piper hummed, flicking the braids in her hair (how she had time to braid that much and look practically perfect was beyond Percy; he barely had enough time to shower and grab a coffee that morning) as if she was about to be in for a treat. 

 

“Annabeth! Hope you’re not working too hard!” Piper called, entering a larger area that was lined with cases displaying texts and books, an info desk in the centre where a blonde woman sat scribbling away. She looked up almost irritably, and Percy gaped a little. She didn’t look anything like Piper- Annabeth had the California girl look, with her curly blonde hair and tanned skin. However she wore a huge wool jumper, one that made her look completely adorable, and her eyes were an intelligent grey, slightly irritated, but softening when she saw Piper. Percy tried not to drop the tablet he was holding when she flicked her gaze to him briefly before turning back to Piper.

“Piper this is my job, of course I’m working hard” She said, and Percy chuckled. Annabeth looked to him at the sound, and he came forward with the tablet.   
“Uh, Chiron asked me to bring you this” He said, and she took it from him as if it weighed nothing, placing it on the desk and tracing her fingers across it gently.   
“Oh thank God, this is the one I wanted. Thanks, um…what’s your name? You’re new aren’t you?” She asked, and Percy nodded, probably too eagerly.   
“This is Percy; I was telling you about him yesterday” Piper supplied. Annabeth rolled her eyes.   
“Yeah and I wasn’t listening because I was working. Its nice to meet you Percy” She said, and Percy smiled.   
“You too. You must have some muscle if you’re lifting stones this big all day” He said, and she gave him a small, secretive smile.   
“You have no idea” 

Piper looked like her cheeks were going to burst from beaming. 

 

“Well” She said brightly “I’d better be going. Be nice to the newbie Annabeth, he isn’t used to your crankiness yet!”   
She left and Percy turned back to Annabeth, wondering how anyone wearing a fuzzy jumper could be cranky.   
“So, Annabeth; you don’t look like the cranky type” He said, and she rolled her eyes.   
“I’m not, usually, Piper just tries to annoy me to stop me from working” She said, and began scanning the top line of the book, scribbling on a notepad beside her.   
“I’ll bet. I’ll uh, I’ll see you around?” He asked hopefully. She shrugged.   
“Maybe”   
And Percy left, because he knew that if he stayed any longer he’d say something real stupid and he caught Annabeth looking at the number on his hand, probably assuming he was some sort of player or something. He would, if roles were reversed. 

 

“Hey man, where have you been?” Jason asked, once Percy returned to the second floor. Percy didn’t actually know what Jason did; it was something to do with Roman stuff, and he worked pretty close with the woman named Reyna who scared Percy a little bit. Other than that he just seemed to hang out with other employees, and it was a miracle he hadn’t been fired. Percy had a feeling he’d be saying that a lot, considering the people he'd met here.

“I was taking something to Annabeth upstairs” Percy said, opening a nearby display case to clean an old sword. The description named it Riptide, and so far it was the worst sword he had come across, though Percy didn't mind. He liked taking care of weapons like these. He pulled the sword from its case and was surprised that the handle fit perfectly against his palm; usually the swords weren't balanced right, or designed for some other ancient hero, but this sword was just right. Percy tried not to let it show and inspected it closely instead. 

“She didn’t bite your head off?” Jason asked. Percy frowned.   
“No? Why would she?” He asked.   
“Annabeth is…troubled. She’s not really all that good with people after- well, I’m just surprised you came back in one piece. She almost punched Connor a week ago”   
Again, Percy couldn’t match the description to the face. It was just all wrong. He wondered quietly what made Annabeth so annoyed all the time, even if he hadn’t actually seen her like that. 

“Hey, watch out!” A voice called, and Percy was almost knocked flat by a guy wheeling a box down the hall far too fast.   
“Leo, slow down!” Jason scolded. Leo grinned like a mad-man.   
“Can’t Jason, I’m on fire today, if you know what I mean!” 

Percy didn’t. Apparently Jason didn’t either. Leo just laughed at their silence. 

“Nevermind! I’m just in a hurry to get started on this Ancient Greek war catapult Hazel managed to get for me, its huge!” He cried joyfully, running with his box down the hall. Jason chuckled at Percy’s expression.   
“I don’t understand either, don’t worry about it. Hey, what are you doing tonight? I was thinking you, me and a few others from downstairs could go out, get you friendly with everyone so you’re not just the new guy on the second floor” He said, and Percy sighed.   
“Sorry man, my roommate Grover and I are going to my mom’s tonight, we’ve had it planned for weeks”   
That was a lie, but Jason bought it, and just smiled graciously.   
“Its okay, maybe another time, yeah?”   
“Yeah. Thanks for offering”   
“Hey, we’re friends now, and friends get their friends hideously drunk so they embarrass themselves in front of their co-workers”   
Percy laughed, and Jason clapped his shoulder before telling him he’d be back later; he had to go and talk to Reyna about a tapestry. Percy began to do some simple work on the sword, admiring the dull blade and liking the way it fit in his hand. Riptide; something about the name was comfortable on his tongue. Percy silently vowed to return it to pristine condition. 

 

“Yo G-man, you going to meet your sweetheart later or finally going on patrol with me?” Percy called into his apartment when he entered, tossing his keys onto the kitchen counter and grinning as he found Grover on the couch playing video games and eating enchiladas. 

“Percy, I’m retired; I put the pipes down. And yes, I’m going to see Juniper” He said, and Percy rolled his eyes. Grover insisted he was retired to be with his fiancée, but Percy knew he loved the whole ‘running across rooftops and fighting crime’ get up they had. He left Percy all alone, and he had to go and get friendly with some of the big-time heroes who were celebrities in Olympus instead of running around in the shadows with his bro. He picked up a magazine the other day and saw that the front page was all about the Shifter and The Centurion’s dynamic duo and how they were in love. Percy had worked with them a few times; he felt like a third wheel the moment he showed up and saw the chemistry they had. It was so awkward, and he cursed Grover’s retirement all the way home. 

“Come on man, once more for old time’s sake?” He pleaded, using his baby seal eyes that Grover couldn’t resist. Unfortunately he wasn't looking, and it had no effect whatsoever.  
“No Perce, I said I’m retired. Plus, you’re teamed up with Night Owl now, so stop trying to make me guilty about abandoning you”   
Percy huffed.   
“She hates me”   
“She doesn’t, you just annoy her all the time” Grover corrected, jerking the console as if physically trying to move whatever he was playing in the game. He tended to do that; he gave Percy a black eye during Mariokart once. It was intense, and they didn’t speak for three days afterward. 

“I do not-   
“Your head inflates when you put on that suit and you know it; you annoyed the hell out of me when I teamed up with you” Grover cut in.   
“Wow, that cut me deep” Percy said, placing a hand over his heart and pulling a pouting face. Grover didn’t even look at him. He was no longer affected by Percy’s guilt trips.   
“Go and get changed, find your superhero girlfriend and stop looking at me like that, Its creeping me out” Grover ordered, and Percy rolled his eyes, heading for the kitchen.   
“I’m having some grilled cheese first; I am not crime fighting on an empty stomach anymore, not after I got distracted by the smell of French fries and got knocked out by that dude and his lizard tail” 

Percy heard Grover chuckle at his misfortune and he scowled, making himself a killer grilled cheese whilst thinking about what he would do when he went out as Typhoon tonight. Since he started working at the museum he was expecting Chiron to try and put him in with the others, make him an official part of the team, but until then he could do as he wished on his own- well until he found Night Owl and followed her around the City. Mostly do his own thing. 

Well, he could, until his phone rang. 

“That’s your mom’s ringtone, you better answer it” Grover yelled, and Percy sighed, fishing his cell from his pocket and answering it.   
“Hey mom, what’s up?” He asked.   
“Percy, get your suit on and get out into the City; we’ve got trouble” 

And in the end he didn’t get to eat his grilled cheese. 

 

Percy ran to his room, phone jammed to his ear.   
“What happened, who’s hurt?” He demanded.   
“Its Inferno; he was attacked and- well, he’s been revealed. Percy you need to help before everyone sees him” 

Percy gritted his teeth and shed his normal clothes, grabbing his black and blue hero suit (he liked that name, because ‘Spandex nightmare’ seemed a little extreme)   
“Who attacked him Mom?” He asked, shoving his arms through the sleeves roughly.   
“I don’t know, but I’ve called Night Owl, because she’s the most likely to work it out”   
“Right. I’ll be right there, tell me where he is” 

 

Percy’s mom gave him a location and Percy jetted out of the window on the crest of a wave, controlled by his own body. His powers were from the water; he didn’t need to fly, because he could use the water to carry him. It was a quick way of getting around town. Within minutes he was there, on the corner of a wide street where a body was lay on the floor, a man in a hood and a golden mask standing over him with a knife. 

“Now, where’s your fire little hero? Where’s the spark?” He mocked, raising the blade to thrust down into the man’s neck, which was exposed. Percy growled, knowing that it was Inferno on the ground, beaten down and looking hurt. Already a crowd was forming, hands holding cameras aloft to record the scene unfolding before them. Percy thrust out his hand as the man plunged the knife downward, and the water became an extension of his arm, wrapping around the man’s wrist and pulling forcefully. The knife clattered from his hand. 

“I can’t give you fire” Percy called, the water bubbling around the man’s wrist “But I know a lot about heat”   
The man screamed, his face hidden under the mask he wore, as his wrist turned red and burned as Percy made the water boil just by thinking about it. Night Owl swooped in as the crowd cheered, a mass of charred black feathers and her orange eyes glaring.   
“Typhoon, let the cops handle him!” She ordered, hitting the floor forcefully and shoving the water away, not realising how hot it was. She recoiled, pulling her hands away.   
“He beat up Inferno, you think the cops could deal with him?” He snapped back, and the man laughed through the pain of his burning wrist. 

“For once, he sounds smart”   
“Shut your mouth” Percy said, though he was a little smug.   
“Oh come on, all I did was offer you a compliment. But I guess I’ve outstayed my welcome. I’ll be seeing you, Night Owl” The man said, and he vanished as if he was just a mirage, but he seemed perfectly solid not a moment ago. The crowd gasped, their cameras swirling to fix on the point he disappeared from. 

“Inferno” Night Owl said, and that was enough to remind Percy why he was here. He hurried to his side, kneeling down to turn the guy over. He frowned when he saw the curly hair and elfish look; he had seen this guy before. Just that day, actually.   
“Oh my God” Night Owl breathed, and Percy looked up at her. She recognised him. She knew who Inferno was.   
“What? You know him?” Percy demanded.   
“I work with him. His name is Leo Valdez”


	3. Chapter 3

Stupid Annabeth. Stupid, stupid Annabeth. Why couldn’t she have kept her mouth shut about working with Leo Valdez? She’d vowed to keep her hero and normal lives very separate. But of course Inferno didn’t get the message and ruined it- okay so maybe it wasn't his fault, but still; ruined it. Now she blurted to Typhoon about working with him and Typhoon seemed to recognise him too. If he found out her identity- God, she would have to be more careful about what she was saying. Hopefully Typhoon was too busy worrying about Leo he'd forget about her slip-up. He hadn't mentioned it when they took Leo-Inferno- to Mrs Jackson's infirmary, hidden in a sweet shop.

“How is he Chiron?” The Red Woman demanded, showing up with the rest of the heroes not long after Typhoon and Annabeth had watched Leo disappear into the room they'd all visited when they were hurt, all demanding answers as if they were his best friend, despite nearly all of them finding it hard to go on patrols with him. Maybe it was a shock to them all that he was so easily beaten by an unknown enemy; after the last huge war, anything new was terrifying. The Red Woman had almost smudged her white face paint off worrying so much, and then Annabeth would have known who two of her team were. The balance was all tipped up now, and it put her on edge.

“He’ll be fine Red, you shouldn’t have all come here” Chiron told her, looking around the room at everyone else. The Centurion, a girl who wore an expensive-looking gold helmet and could summon precious jewels was stood beside her patrol partner Shifter, who was currently turning into a range of different animals- it was his nervous tick. Annabeth just paced and thought up battle plans. 

“He is part of our team Chiron, we would have come no matter who it was” The Praetor said from her position in the back. She was the quietest, but also the most authoritive, and Annabeth knew she was hiding her truth-seeking powers from the others. No doubt the Praetor would prefer to have the surprise attack if she had to find out something from them; she always was more cautious and paranoid.   
“Yeah, even Typhoon is worth a trip now” Blue Spark agreed, and Typhoon sent him a rude gesture across the room.   
“You suck Sparky. You’re just sour because I made your lightning look like a static shock last week”   
“I don’t even have to be a seer to predict the lightning Blue Spark is about to throw to prove Typhoon wrong” The oracle muttered to herself from under her mask, hovering near Chiron and giving the boys disapproving looks. Blue Spark scowled and Typhoon stuck his tongue out. 

“Mature” Annabeth said.   
“Thank you, I do try” Typhoon replied easily.   
Annabeth rolled her eyes and wondered whether it was just an overgrown five-year-old inside that suit. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was. 

“What are we going to do about his revealed identity Chiron? There were at least twenty cell phones that caught his face” Annabeth inquired, playing with the feathers on her arms nervously. Chiron sighed.   
“He’ll just have to be out in the open, there isn’t much we can do. Not even Red’s charmspeaking could make the city forget what they saw; the footage will probably be on the news by now” 

There were several heavy sighs from various people around the room, Annabeth included. Leo would be hounded constantly now his identity was revealed; the press would find out his name, address, workplace- they would stalk him and pester him for answers about his powers and who the others were. Leo would not have privacy again. And by extension, Annabeth would have to be more careful too; one slip up and her face would be plastered on the front page of a newspaper, her carefully organised life gone just like that. 

 

This was why everyone had their alter-ego. They hadn’t even told each other in case someone let slip or in Annabeth’s case, she didn’t trust them. No doubt Shifter and The Centurion would be swapping real names soon, judging by how close they were, but Annabeth just couldn’t. The only thing they knew about her was her mom; that’s all they would ever know. 

“Who was it that attacked him?” Blue Spark asked curiously. Chiron looked grave.   
“I don’t know Blue. All I know was that he was strong. Exceptionally so. We’ll have to be careful from now on; he’ll probably try and pick you off one at a time”   
Typhoon glanced at Night Owl worriedly, but she stayed focused on Chiron. 

“He won’t go for us all at once? That’s what the last few have tried” She said warily. Chiron smiled grimly.   
“Maybe he has realised that you are not your parents and those tactics won’t work. Be on your guard, heroes; Inferno thought he was invincible, and he was beaten easily. Don’t go on patrol alone” 

 

Annabeth left the infirmary, as Mrs Jackson had said that Leo needed rest, and she was followed out by Typhoon. Everyone else had stayed, waiting to hear more news of Inferno, but Annabeth was tired; her hands were burned from Typhoon’s boiling water whip, the hyperactive guy who fixed her computer was a superhero and someone was out for them. Something about him was familiar, but Annabeth didn’t know what it was. It annoyed her when she didn’t know. It also worried her that he said he'd see her again- not the team, not all of them, just her- though she didn't worry the others by telling them that. They didn't need that kind of strain.

“Yo, Wise Girl, wait up!” Typhoon called, and Annabeth growled.   
“That’s not my name” She reminded him irritably.   
“Not anymore, yeah I know. You seemed tense in there; was that guy your friend?” He asked, and Annabeth sighed.   
“I don’t have that many friends. He is just someone I know” She told him evenly, walking down the street in hopes that Typhoon would just leave. She hoped he wouldn’t follow her home. She didn’t want to have to push him off another building. 

“Your other life sounds real lonely, Wise Girl” He said, hands in his suit pockets- wait, why did he have pockets? Annabeth needed to get herself some of those.  
“And you sound real stupid since you are still calling me that” She replied icily.   
“Its your first Hero name; your true secret identity”   
“Maybe I wanted a change”   
“Or maybe you changed it because you didn’t want to be that little girl who couldn’t save her mom anymore” Typhoon said offhandedly, and Annabeth stopped walking, mouth agape and a feeling like slamming on the brakes too hard in her chest. 

“What did you just say?” She breathed. Typhoon stopped too, standing before her calmly. His eyes were green under his mask; a sea green, like sun on deep water.   
“You didn't know how to save them. You were there, weren’t you wise girl?” He asked quietly.   
“I don’t know what-   
“That day. The day that Gaea killed your Mom, the first team. Sunk them into the ground. You were there, weren’t you?” He asked. Annabeth clenched her fists.   
“Don’t you dare ask me that again. In fact, don’t talk to me. If I see you again, you’ll be joining them” She spat “And my mom, in the ground” 

She turned and she took off into the sky, jetting toward the safety of her apartment, trying to tell herself that Typhoon was completely wrong, that he shouldn’t have asked her that, even if she was lying to herself. He may be an idiot, but he could be pretty perceptive; but how did he know that Annabeth was there when Gaea sunk the first Team of Heroes into the ground? How did he know that she hated being helpless, and changed her name so she didn’t have to keep being reminded of Gaea calling her pathetic? How did he know anything about her?   
“Annabeth? What’s wrong?” Thalia asked, when Annabeth entered through the window. She sighed.   
“Nothing Thals, just a long night” She said.   
“Yeah, I saw the news. We work with Inferno, huh? Its pretty weird how there’s three of us at the same workplace; I’m retired though, so I don’t count. But you and Leo, what are the chances?” 

“I’m going to bed Thals. Is Luke not here?” She asked. Thalia shook her head.   
“He’s working late tonight and he said he was going to visit his mom in the hospital. You know he doesn’t like anyone going with him for that” She explained, and Annabeth nodded. After knowing Luke for so long, she knew how sensitive he was about his mother. She smiled.   
“Yeah, I know. Night Thals”   
“Goodnight Annabeth”   
Annabeth took off her suit and threw on an old T-shirt before gratefully climbing into bed and pulling the covers over her head, hoping that if she couldn’t see the world, it would simply go away. 

 

The world can be pretty damn stubborn when it wanted to be. And annoying.   
“Annie, you’re gonna be late for work” Thalia called, throwing stuff at her from the door. Annabeth groaned from her bed and cracked an eye open, looking at her alarm and- crap. Why didn’t it go off at six as usual? 

“If you’re wondering what I think you’re wondering, that damn thing has been ringing since six in the morning- I almost threw it out of the window” Thalia supplied helpfully. Annabeth heaved herself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, realising that she hadn’t even shifted back to her usual state, and the feathers that covered the majority of her head were sticking out in crazy directions. She made her orange owl eyes return to their usual stormy grey, the feathers turn back to curly blonde hair (which was in a similar messy state which wasn’t helping her tardiness) and scowled at herself in the mirror.   
“First time in three years I’m late, how is that even possible?” She grumbled.   
“Stop talking to yourself and hurry up, I was late three times this week!” Thalia yelled through the door, making loud crashing noises as she searched for something (probably her shoes, she was always losing them). 

 

They arrived at the museum much later than Annabeth felt comfortable with, and could hardly get inside due to the mass of reporters congregated outside. Chiron was positioned in his chair at the entrance, refusing access to them all, and Thalia managed to get through by elbowing and biting. Annabeth realised she wasn’t getting inside through politeness, and unleashed her elbows too. 

“Girls, go on, get inside; I doubt any of the public are getting in today so you’ll just be making sure everything is in order and trying to stop Reyna from ordering that forty foot tall statue of Athena from China” He said, stress evident in his voice as he shooed the countless journalists away. Annabeth winced and he gave her an apologetic look, but she just brushed it off and smiled, following Thalia inside and they looked at each other incredulously. 

“Jeez, they already found out where he works? It's been a day!” Thalia exclaimed, and Annabeth sighed.   
“Yeah, they’re good at that. You should go and call Luke; he’ll be freaked about all this, you know how he is with the hero stuff” She advised. Thalia looked as if something heavy had just been dumped on her shoulders.   
“Yeah, I know. Lets just hope he doesn’t find out about the rest of us” 

Annabeth could only hope- after what happened to Luke and his mom, anyone who had anything to do with heroes was not his friend. She hoped he never found out for Thalia’s sake; she was in love with the guy, and she used to be a hero. Annabeth was sure now that Luke was the reason she quit. She wondered if anyone could ever make her feel the same. 

 

“Hey Annabeth, you’re late today” Hazel greeted, smiling politely as she approached. Annabeth groaned.   
“Please don’t remind me” She said. Hazel laughed.   
“Its okay, we all do it. Although, you’re barely ever late. Long night?”   
“Uh, you could say that” Annabeth agreed. Hazel grinned.   
“Were you on a date?”   
“What? No!”   
“You can tell me if you were. Your hair looks pretty wild today, I just assumed-   
“You assumed wrong. God, Hazel, no date. I hate dating”   
“Aw dammit, I’m out of luck” Another voice said, and Annabeth turned to find Percy wandering over, hair messy and smile wide. He was dressed awfully casual for a museum job, he seems to have caught on quickly that literally nobody wore formal clothing or even followed the dress code (Annabeth remembered Leo’s ‘Mad hat Mondays’ with some horror). She herself always wore sweaters in the winter, comfortable boots and such. She raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Out of luck?” She asked. He went a little red.   
“Slipped out, sorry” He told her.   
“Good. Anyway, you already have someone to date, judging by the cell phone number someone wrote on your hand” She replied, and Percy scowled at his now clean palm as if it offended him personally. 

“That was Drew wasn’t it? She had to practically pin you down to write. Its okay, she got Frank when he first came here too; she’ll give up eventually” Hazel smiled, and Percy chuckled.   
“It was terrifying, she pounced on me. I’m never going to the top floor again” He said. Annabeth cracked a smile, a little relieved for some reason, although she didn’t quite know why.   
“Well, I gotta get to work. I’ll see you Hazel. I actually have something for you to look at Percy; I’ve had it in my desk draw for months, I totally forgot about it until this morning” She said, and Hazel left, heading off to her own job. Annabeth and Percy walked the large hallway, the space much bigger now it wasn’t filled with visitors.   
“What do you have to show me?” He asked “Is it something from the museum?”   
“Uh no, its mine actually; well, I- borrowed it” She lied, and Percy smirked.   
“Borrowed it as in borrowed it or borrowed it as in ‘not going to give it back’?”   
“Borrowed it as in borrowed, moron. I want to know If you can get it back to normal” She explained, climbing the floors to her level and emerging on the hallway that led to her space. 

“So, you borrowed it to see if I can fix it?” He asked.   
“Yes. Its in a complete mess”   
Mostly lies, but Annabeth had seen what Percy could do on her way out of the museum, the gleaming weapons that seemed irreparable before now in pristine condition, sat proudly in their display cases. And this weapon was important; this weapon was once her mother’s, found in the spot where she died in the battle against Gaea. She wanted it to shine the way it once did when she had it. 

“Here it is” Annabeth announced, pulling open a draw and carefully removing a bronze knife. It was badly damaged and coated in grime, the handle worn soft and edges flecked with dried brown blood, but Annabeth was sure that Percy could make it usable.   
“Oh my God” He breathed, and Annabeth held her breath.   
“What?” She asked.   
“This is- Athena’s blade. She died with this in her hand” He said. Annabeth gulped. 

“You- uh, a fan of the heroes?” She asked nervously. He would question why she had it. He might realise that Annabeth was Night Owl. She had made a mistake.   
“You could say that yeah. Night Owl, does she know you have this?” He asked, and he sounded angry. What right did he have to be angry?   
Oh God, she hoped he wasn’t one of those creepy Night Owl stalkers who picked up some of the feathers she shed and framed them. Please don’t be one of those guys.   
“Can you fix it or not?” She asked sharply. Percy raised the knife to eye-level and examined it closely, his green eyes scanning all the damaged parts.   
“I could improve it a great deal, but its been chipped and cracked and everything. It won’t ever be the same as it was” He said.   
“Oh. Well, do what you can” She said. He frowned.   
“How did you get this? Is this the only thing recovered? The only weapon?”   
“Why? Are you a collector?”   
Percy looked downcast for a moment, before smiling.   
“Just curious. I’ll take care of this for you” He promised.   
“Thank you. I owe you for this” She told him.   
“I’ll find something for you to repay me with” 

 

And with that he left, taking Athena’s priceless blade with him. Annabeth let out a long, relieved breath and sat at her desk, pulling a book of ancient Greek toward her and promising herself Chinese takeout for dinner if she could finish translating it by closing time. Of course she just managed it, and she and Thalia really enjoyed the meal, but she couldn’t stop thinking about her mother’s blade and Typhoon being spot on about watching the heroes of Olympus being defeated by Gaea. Hopefully she’d be able to push it out of her mind by tomorrow and stop worrying about it, loosen up a little like everyone and their mothers had been telling her to do.   
Hopefully. But no promises. 

She and Thalia stayed in watching really bad movies that night (“Jaws is an awesome movie Annabeth, your taste just sucks”) and eating everything they could find in the fridge, and Annabeth was glad, because when she woke up the next morning, there was a huge story on the front page of the newspaper that read:   
‘ORACLE IS CAPTURED BY UNKNOWN VILLAIN; CAPTOR DEMANDS A TRADE FOR HER FREEDOM’ 

And guess who the Villain wanted?   
None other than the one and only Night Owl.   
Annabeth was flattered, really, but she was not handing herself over to some douchebag who tried bargaining with her team.   
“Hey Thals, do you want to come out of retirement to help me whoop some ass?” She asked, knowing that Thalia was just as pissed at Annabeth being so publicly threatened.   
“I thought you would never ask. And Annabeth- call me huntress”   
Annabeth smiled, and began to think up a plan.


	4. Chapter 4

“So, she has Athena’s priceless knife sitting in her desk for months and she wants you to fix it?” Grover asked, his voice muffled from the amount of hotdog in his mouth. They’d taken a walk through the streets of Olympus, and Percy had stupidly stopped for hotdogs even though he should’ve guessed that Grover would buy two and eat both with his mouth wide open. 

“Yeah, it’s a mess but I could make it shine again” He replied. Grover chuckled.   
“Yeah, and maybe she’ll throw herself into your arms in thanks and you’ll stop pining after her”   
“I am not-   
“Dude, I live with you. You pined the moment you got home after _just meeting her_ ”   
Percy scowled, and Grover laughed. 

“Hey, at least you’re not still weirdly in love with Night Owl. I mean that girl has issues. And far too many feathers” He said. Percy rolled his eyes.   
“I was not in love with her man, she was my partner since you-   
“Yeah yeah, I ditched you to get engaged, so you keep saying. But you didn’t hear yourself going on about you two ‘getting each other’ when you were drunk at that Halloween party-   
“You swore not to mention that!” Percy cried, and Grover just grinned. 

“I promised nothing. So, before you go all red in embarrassment, are you going to tell Night Owl about Annabeth having the knife?”   
“I don’t know man, I don’t wanna start a fight or anything; Night Owl would kick her ass for that knife” He said, sighing and throwing his hotdog napkin in the trash.   
“Yeah, and you couldn’t take sides without blowing your cover. Don’t tell her; she’s slowly getting over her mom’s death, don’t remind her of it by telling her you know where the knife is. I saw what happened to Night Owl when the first team were killed- she was never the same”   
“None of us were. At least your dad might still be alive, he did escape after all”   
Grover smiled weakly. 

“I doubt that Percy, it was three years ago; he’s gone. Hey look, speaking of lost causes, there’s your new crush” He said hurriedly, shoving the topic away from his father hastily. Grover never wanted to talk about Pan, not since he went on that huge hunt to find him and failed. Maybe one day, Percy thought, he’d open up about it. Until then he’d have to wait. 

“What? Where?” Percy asked, looking around curiously and totally not eagerly, Grover was just exaggerating. He spotted the curly head of hair next to a pretzel stand, chatting with a guy in a police uniform. Percy felt a scowl settle on his face. 

“Whoa, calm down there champ, that’s Nico, remember?” Grover said, just as the guy turned his head and yes, it was Nico. The Sheriff that helped the heroes keep Olympus safe. He was a cool guy, and Percy was sure he saw him checking him and Blue Spark out in their suits (though its hard not to give Blue Spark a second glance in his getup, even Percy had to say he was impressed). Realising that it was Nico, Percy relaxed. Grover snickered.   
“You’re so hopeless. Getting jealous over Nico of all people”   
“So help me I will smack that hotdog out of your hand if you keep taking the biscuit”   
“Pft, I’d take you down before you could try Jackson” 

Percy was about to retaliate when he looked over at the stand to find that Annabeth and Nico had vanished. There was no sign of them further up the street, and Percy frowned.   
“Did them disappearing seem a little quick to you?” He asked Grover, who shrugged.   
“Nico might have drove her home in his cop car; he does that sometimes”   
“There wasn’t a cop car here” Percy pointed out.   
“Oh yeah! Well, maybe they walk fast” Grover shrugged. Something seemed off to Percy though; wrong somehow. Grover groaned.   
“Oh jeez, that’s the look you get before you go all Typhoon and do something ridiculous. She’s fine Casanova, stop obsessing”   
“Something’s wrong” Percy said “I’m sure of it”   
“Yeah, you’re insane” Grover muttered, but shut his mouth quick as Percy grabbed his arm and pulled him toward a nearby store. Percy had always been slightly suspicious about who else was a hero in this town, and looking at how fast Nico and Annabeth vanished, he thought his suspicions had been confirmed. He dragged Grover all the way to the bathrooms and shoved him into the baby changing room, locking the door behind them. 

“Nico is a hero” He said, proud of himself for figuring it out. Grover looked at him as if he was insane.   
“Dude, Nico is a cop”   
“Yeah, but he has powers”   
“Is this part of the jealousy thing?” 

Percy slapped the hotdog from Grover’s hand and scowled. Grover let out a noise of anguish as it hit the floor.   
“No. Remember that time I worked as a cop? And I always used to come home-   
“And talk about how your boss is literally everywhere? Percy he could just be a fast walker” Grover reasoned. Percy wanted to flick his head for being so dense  
.   
“I know powers when I see them, and he even looks like freaking Hades! The first team all had either a child or a mentee; I was Poseidon’s son, the Huntress and that Nightshade girl worked with Artemis- you never saw a little Hades walking around did you? And everyone wondered, even I did, and I wasn’t even in their big club”

“Percy, Hades had a kid. Her name was Phantom, remember? She died years ago? Maybe after losing a child he didn’t want another”   
“Or maybe, Nico lost his sister and didn’t want to be a hero at all, so he became a cop. Trust me on this one Grover, I talked to that guy all the time when I worked for him, I’m sure he’s Hades’ son” Percy said, and Grover raised an eyebrow.   
“You’re so stubborn. Fine, I’ll go with you on this one, but you better give me proof or I’m never believing you ever again” He said. Percy grinned and let them out of the room, finding three mothers stood outside waiting for them to emerge. They all gave them dirty looks as they left. Grover just waved. 

“So, if Nico is a Hero, why did he take Annabeth?” Percy wondered as they roamed the store. Grover picked up a newspaper, scanning the first page before showing Percy.   
“Well there’s this guy who took The Oracle; maybe its Nico getting revenge for his sister dying or something and he’s just kidnapping Annabeth because he’s bored of Night Owl not showing up” He said, though by the tone of his voice Percy knew he didn’t believe it. Percy’s curiosity was roused by the article though; why would this guy want Night Owl instead of The Oracle? That girl could see the future and instead he asks for the smartass. This guy had less brains than everyone said Percy did. 

“Maybe” Percy mumbled “Night Owl will probably be making a plan to get her back without a trade, I wonder if she needs any help. You could come along too and we’ll all-"   
“How many times do I have to tell you? I. Am. Retired” Grover sighed. Percy clicked his tongue irritably and put the paper down.   
“You suck. I’ll go by myself” He said.   
“You don’t even know where she is” Grover pointed out.   
“I’ll find her. And Annabeth too, because I’m awesome”   
“Of course you are” Grover muttered, but Percy was already leaving and didn’t hear him. 

 

Wearing the suit under his clothes was irritating, but damn was it useful when he didn't have time to go home and change. Percy stripped off his clothes on the roof of the store, shoving them into the corner where he would get them later, and pulled the mask over his head and as far down his nose as it would go. He always got serious helmet hair when he took it off, but it hid his identity well so he couldn't complain. Percy raised his arms and water flooded out of a nearby water tower, forming a wave under him which carried him across the town. Seriously, Night Owl’s flying and Blue Spark’s running/parkour flying had nothing on this. Surfing on a wave was the best way of getting anywhere ever. 

Where to look first? Percy was good at knowing all of Night Owl’s favourite spots; a certain rooftop that was full of plants and trees, the building near the cemetery where there was a perfect view of the first team’s memorial statues, and the rooftop of the coffee shop she visited often. She wasn’t in any of these places when Percy checked. Would she even be on patrol at this time? She wasn’t usually. Dammit. Percy hadn’t thought this through. 

“You know, why you like her is anyone’s guess; she’s a big ball of moody feathers” A voice said from behind him, and Percy turned to find the Praetor stood watching him. She always looked very regal, wearing deep purple and gold. Percy thought she could belong in the museum, a Roman woman leading an army into battle.   
“What are you doing here?” He asked her curiously, and she smiled.   
“I was curious about the whole ‘trade The Oracle for Night Owl article’. She told me she and Huntress had a plan”   
“Huntress? The Huntress? She’s retired!” Percy exclaimed. The Praetor smirked.   
“Not if it comes to Night Owl. They told me that they knew where The Oracle was being held thanks to a friend they know, said I should stand by in case anyone comes to interfere. I’m guessing that’s you”   
Percy huffed. 

“I was worried” He said.   
“Whatever you want to call it Typhoon, if it helps you sleep at night” She said.   
“Where are they?”   
“Does it look like I’m going to tell you?” She asked. Percy thought it didn’t. The Praetor was impossible to bribe or extract information from. No wonder Night Owl asked her to keep an eye out; she would not give away a thing.   
“Ugh, please?” He asked. She looked amused.   
“Night Owl gave me strict instructions to only call for backup if they weren’t back in one hour. Until then you’re out of luck” 

Percy sighed, glaring at The Praetor moodily. Night Owl was his friend, why wouldn’t she ask for his help on this? Okay yeah, she had told him not to speak to her but that was only because he was right and she couldn’t stand thinking about her mom. She had to have calmed down since then, right? No way could she still hate him.   
“She is good at holding grudges about people who talk about Athena. You should really stop thinking aloud” The Praetor smirked. Percy just took off into the sky on his wave. He made sure to splash Preator for her sass; he was pretty sure she declared war on him as he surfed away. 

“Oh Percy, she can handle herself” His mom chided when he showed up to the Infirmary. His Mom had been the healer for the first team; that was how she met his dad. She didn’t have any powers, but she could whip up this amazing batch of ambrosia that could cure just about anything. She called it ‘the food of the Gods’, and Percy very much agreed. She wasn't 'Typhoon's' Mom; to Typhoon she was just the motherly figure of the team, but she was Percy's Mom, and Percy visited all the time when she was free; he loved talking with his Mom.

“I know Mom, I’ve seen her in action. But its not just her; Annabeth has disappeared too” He said, and his mom tried not to smile.   
“Is this the same girl Grover told me you liked?” She asked. Percy vowed to hide all of the Mexican food (Grover’s favourite) when he got home. The guy could not shut his mouth for two seconds. 

“Its just a crush, she works in the museum” He muttered, feeling his cheeks burning. The nearby pot of cooking ambrosia began to bubble over.  
“Tell me about her, take your mind off Night Owl”   
So Percy did. He told his mom about her job translating the huge books written in Latin and Greek, how she wore a huge sweater (he left out the part that he thought she was adorable when she pulled the sleeves over her fingers) and was good friends with Piper, who worked on the Greek artwork. His Mom smiled the whole time he talked, checking on another batch of ambrosia that was almost ready to be used. 

“So, you met this girl less than a week ago and you like her?”   
“I feel like I know her from somewhere” Percy admitted “I don’t know what it is”   
“Well you said she was smart, maybe she just reminds you of Night Owl a little. You have known her for longer” 

Percy sighed and smiled at his mom. She always smiled when he was around, keeping him happy, but he knew she was still sad about his dad. Percy didn’t know his dad all that well; once he decided he was doing his own superhero thing he didn’t see him that much, but his mom loved him. She always used to talk about him, and then after Gaea; not so much. Percy wanted to ask, but he didn’t want to see his mom sad. She didn’t deserve to be sad about anything at all. 

“Maybe, Mom. But Night Owl is just my friend” He said, and she chuckled.   
“You have always been far too loyal to your friends. Just remember that she isn’t as trusting as you. I say you should ask this Annabeth to dinner or a movie or something, she sounds good for you”

Percy was going to complain, but then his phone buzzed; his other, hero phone that Chiron had given to him earlier that day with the other hero’s numbers already programmed in so they could call each other for back-up and stuff. The Praetor flashed up on the screen, and he answered.   
“Hello?”   
“The hour is up Typhoon, and your friends aren’t back. You want to know where they went or not?”


	5. Chapter 5

Annabeth should have known. A cop that shows up within seconds of you calling him? How is that not a super power? She had no idea how she didn’t figure it out before.   
Thalia was the one who told her. Annabeth needed to find where the Oracle was, and apparently Miss Grace had the perfect guy for the job. 

“Okay, meet him by the pretzel stand across from the library- and I know you know where that is because you’re a nerd and nerds love the library- and he’ll take you to the place where the Oracle is. I’ll wait for your call and follow” Thalia said “And then the actual plan thing is all yours” 

Annabeth did have a plan forming, and now she had a way of getting to the Oracle she could really iron it out. She would go in alone first; offer herself up to the villain whilst simultaneously getting as much info as possible (Annabeth was scarily good at this- people tended to just tell her things even when she didn’t want them too, like Drew), allowing Thalia to sneak in and grab the Oracle. Then Annabeth would drag her ass out of there, not starting a fight as this is a rescue operation and considering how Leo was taken out so easily, she would not be going in guns blazing. Maybe Thalia’s friend could get her out of there. That would be easier. 

 

So, Annabeth stood by the pretzel stand across from the library, waiting for someone to approach her and tell her that her shoelace was untied (it wasn’t, that was a code- because Annabeth felt cooler that way). Thalia had told her friend to seek out the girl in the Yankees cap, so all Annabeth could do was wait. And wait. And wait. She considered actually buying a pretzel after ten minutes, just so she could look like she was doing something instead of just stood there. 

“Hey, your shoelace is untied” A voice said, and Annabeth turned to find Nico Di Angelo stood behind her, still in his uniform and smiling in that usual grim way of his.   
“Nico? You’re the guy?” She asked. He raised an eyebrow.   
“You’re Night Owl? You’re a lot cuter without all the feathers” Was his reply, and Annabeth controlled her automatic blushing that came whenever someone paid her a compliment.   
“Thanks. So, you know how to get to The Oracle?” She asked. Nico nodded.   
“I’m Hades’ son. I inherited his shadow travelling powers. And his dog, but I thought this was too dangerous to bring her along to. If the Oracle didn’t see this guy coming then he’s strong” 

Annabeth found it so weird to have Nico talking to her about superhero stuff, she’d written him off as just a normal Sheriff who collected the criminals she beat up. And he was a Hades kid…   
“Wait, Hades had two children?” She asked without thinking, and Nico’s face dropped. Exactly like Annabeth’s did when anyone mentioned Athena.   
“Crap, Nico, I’m sorry-   
“It was a long time ago. Bianca was my sister, but she and I chose different paths; she just happened to choose the one that killed her. Its fine Annabeth, calm down”   
Annabeth gave him her best ‘I am so sorry I said something stupid and please don’t hate me’ eyes and he chuckled a little. She breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Have you got your feathers? What do you do, stick them on or something?” He asked curiously.   
“Nope, they’re part of me. We should go, this guy has had Oracle for almost twelve hours”   
Nico nodded and took Annabeth’s arm, and the whole world grew dark, everything melted away and warped into one big grey smudge. Annabeth felt as if she was flying, faster than she could possibly fly, and clung to Nico subconsciously. 

 

When it stopped they were somewhere else entirely, and Annabeth almost took poor Nico’s head off trying to get some distance between them.   
“I don’t think anyone else has ever clung so much when I do that” He grumbled, and she coughed awkwardly, looking at the surroundings she found herself in. It was an old storage warehouse, in the more industrial part of Olympus that never really took off. The huge doors were open slightly, the inside dark. Nico and Annabeth exchanged glances. 

“You should put your feathers on now I think” Nico suggested, and Annabeth did so. She could feel Nico’s dark eyes staring as the feathers grew in place of her hair and along her arms and neck, charred black as always. She should hate knowing that he knew who she was, but this was Nico; he and her probably worked better than anyone, and if revealing herself to one guy saved Oracle, she could deal.

“I’ll text Praetor, tell her to take watch and call for backup if we’re not back in an hour since she was so interested before. Stand by, I’ll signal you if I need you. Call Huntress, tell her to get over here” Annabeth ordered, pulling out her hero mobile that she kept in her jeans. Praetor had text her earlier, asking what she was going to do about the Oracle. Annabeth had told her that she and Huntress would handle it. But just in case, she needed someone as backup. 

"Praetor, can you keep a lookout today, stop anyone from trying to interfere with the Oracle thing? If you don’t hear from me in an hour, assume we need backup." She typed, and sent it before scanning the area for Thalia.

Within minutes her phone buzzed. 

"Already on patrol. I’m counting down an hour as we speak."

Annabeth put her phone back in her pocket and began pulling away her clothes, revealing her usual hero outfit underneath. Thalia appeared from behind the building, wearing her parka and hunter clothes, carrying a bow and knife. 

“You know, I didn’t expect you to bring that” Annabeth said, gesturing to the bow. Thalia scowled under her balaclava.   
“Well Nightshade isn’t here is she? You need someone at long range to help out. Now lets get this show on the road” 

Annabeth nodded and turned to the doors, taking a deep breath before slipping inside silently. She and Thalia had mastered the art of silence, and often used it to sneak up on each other at work or home to scare each other. Thalia was an expert and mastered it first, but Annabeth had caught on, which she was glad about as she made her way further into the building, which was far too quiet for a hostage situation. Even with Annabeth's expert vision she couldn't make out any sort of Oracle shaped figure anywhere. She growled, and headed for the door.

“Well, there’s my favourite hero” A male voice crooned sweetly, and Annabeth whipped around, locating the voice in the shadows. She narrowed her eyes and focused, fixing on a figure in a gold mask. The same one who had attacked Inferno.

“What do you want with me? Where’s the Oracle?” She demanded, and the voice chuckled, low and at ease.   
“Now now, don’t be so hasty, she’s completely fine. I only wanted her as bait, I practically gave her five star treatment. As for you; well, you can help me out” He explained. Annabeth made a noise as if to say ‘yeah, right’. 

“Oh, and what could I possibly help you with?” She asked dryly, backing away slightly as the man came forward.   
“You’re smart, Night Owl. You can help me bring him to life” He said. Annabeth frowned.   
“Who?” She asked suspiciously.   
“His name is Kronos; maybe you have heard of him”

Annabeth faltered. She couldn’t speak. Her feet stayed rooted to the floor. Kronos. Kronos. 

“Gaea’s son? You want me to help you wake up Gaea’s spawn?” She breathed.   
“Now, you’re not still sore about that Gaea business are you?”   
Annabeth wanted to punch him. Screw the failed ‘rescue operation’, screw the fact that she had no idea what he could do; she wanted to hit him so hard he didn’t wake up until Christmas. Next year. 

“He killed my mom, you apathetic asshole. And I will never help you wake up her son. Over my dead body” She spat.   
“That’s what it will come to if you refuse” He sung softly, sauntering forward with an arrogant air to him.   
“Where’s Oracle?” Annabeth asked through gritted teeth. The man clicked his tongue.   
“She’s around” He told her vaguely.   
“Is she even here? Or was this all a trick to get me here?”   
“Depends; are your friends outside a part of your trick to get me here?”   
Annabeth scowled and concentrated for a moment, listening for her friends; she heard growling, and winced- the man in the Gold mask had back-up too.

“I don’t know who you are or where you came from but you better bring me Oracle now-"  
“Or what, Wise Girl? Will you hoot at me? Tell me some facts? You’re nothing. All you have is a brain and some feathers; the others are stronger, faster, better than you in almost every way. Typhoon is only your partner because you can’t fight alone. Just like with Gaea, you are useless” 

Annabeth clenched her fists and stared at a point on the wall in front of her, refusing to rise to him however much she wanted to. Oh, she wanted to pummel him to the ground and show him, show him that she is not the same girl she was. Show everyone that she wasn’t helpless. She hadn’t been given the chance, but she’ll get one soon. 

“You trying to knock my confidence? Make me fight back? Try something else, that’s elementary” Annabeth told him, adding a fake yawn for Authenticity. The man chuckled.   
“You know I like your fire, always talking bigger than you are. If you work with me, you wouldn’t be in those other hero’s shadows; you’d be respected by everyone in this God forsaken town and everywhere else. Kronos could give you so much more than you have” He cooed, playing with the feathers on Annabeth’s head gently, making her want to back away and cringe “He could fix these broken feathers”   
“I don’t need fixing, I don’t need someone to get me respect; I have it, and we’re a team” Annabeth responded icily. 

“So, my offers don’t interest you, do they not? You’re a difficult one. How about this; for every time you turn down my offer, I will find one of your team, beat them down and reveal their identities to everyone. There will be no alter-egos, no secrecy; just fools trying to play the good guys”   
“Why are you doing this?” Annabeth demanded, stepping away from him angrily “All we do is protect Olympus; why do you want to ruin that?”   
“You and your parents have spent too long ruling over the rest of us. Playing the heroes, not paying attention to the collateral damage”   
“What do you mean?”   
“Do you know how many lives have been ruined thanks to your parents? Offering the gift of powers to those who they deem ‘worthy’? They make me sick” 

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, meeting the man’s glare evenly.   
“That was a mistake”   
“THAT WAS A MURDER!”   
There was silence for a moment, before the man took a deep breath. 

“Come on now, Night Owl- I’m offering you the world on a plate. All you have to do is raise Kronos. That’s all”   
“Don’t you think that if I knew how to bring people back from the dead my Mom would be here?” Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow. The man chuckled.   
“Ah, but Kronos is not dead is he? That freelancer Hypnos put him to sleep. You are well aware of that. Don’t be stupid about this, you saw what I can do-"

Annabeth had heard enough. Enough lunacy, enough threats- enough of the trash this guy spouted. They would go around in circles if it carried on, and since Oracle wasn’t here, Annabeth had no reason to be either. She let her seething rage grow in her stomach, and clenched her fists, and grew talons, right out of her knuckles, and swiped across his face, ruthless and with no remorse if she took an eye out. Her strike was hard enough to slice right through the mask he wore. He reared backward and cried out, and Annabeth turned and ran, toward the door where she’d find Nico and Thalia waiting for her, both a little bloody, but it wasn't theirs. She headed for them, ready to go and report what they knew back to the others. Instead something hit her back, piercing her skin. She hit the floor and tried not to scream and give him the satisfaction, despite the blade feeling like fire between her shoulder blades.

 

“You ever heard of Pit Scorpions; little friends of Kronos? That venom will kill you in less than twenty minutes. You’re dead little bird, don’t fight it” 

 

Annabeth tried. She pulled herself up to her hands and knees and crawled, but her energy was being drained out of her. She struggled to keep her disguise up, the feathers fought to vanish and show her to the world. She knew her eyes were already grey, lids becoming heavier and heavier. Thalia had cried out and prepared to run forward, but Nico held her back; She saw him mouth 'wait'; he pointed upward, and Thalia nodded, teeth gritted. She disappeared from Annabeth's sight.  
“You won’t- I won’t-"  
“Let me get away with this? Its done” The man spat, in obvious pain. Annabeth felt curly hair sweeping across her shoulders, her talons retreated into her hands. She turned and gave him the most deadliest glare she had. 

And he stepped back. 

“Annabeth” He breathed, with recognition in his voice, and Annabeth was going to ask, but an arrow was suddenly buried in his arm and he vanished. Just like that.   
How did he know who she was? 

“ANNIE!” Thalia yelled, jumping down from where she’d fired the arrow from- a small hole in the old roof- and scrambled to her side, pulling the venom-filled blade from her back and pulling her in.   
“God, your powers- Annie, talk to me” 

Annabeth registered Nico grabbing them both, muttering something about Mrs Jackson’s infirmary, before she could hear roars.   
“I thought they were dead! Nico, take my knife, keep them at bay!” Thalia ordered, shooting arrows whilst Annabeth lay across her lap.   
“Shouldn’t- have turned my back” She mumbled. Thalia hissed.   
“Its not your fault, just keep your eyes open. You aren’t getting away that easy” Came the reply. Annabeth did as she was told. She focused on the light coming through the hole, focusing on the clouds and the occasional bird instead of the battle. Sweat poured off her, she felt sick and ready to pass out. One cloud looked like a star. 

“You need some help?” Another voice called, someone familiar, and the ceiling cackled with electricity. There was water and fire and swords clanging, echoing slightly as if she was underwater.   
Annabeth watched the sky, until everything went dark.


	6. Chapter 6

The only time that Percy had seen Night Owl really hurt was when Inferno had set that building on fire and she’d been stuck inside. Night Owl had said it was ‘part of the plan’, but Percy really couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe it was an accident. Leo was a new guy when it happened; she was probably covering for him so he wouldn’t get into serious trouble, which was pretty cool of her, but she'd still been burnt to a crisp.

Still, she’d been able to walk then, she’d been conscious and Percy could carry her to safety; but this was different. Night Owl was in Huntress’ lap, poisoned, and only Nico Di Angelo’s body was hiding her true identity from view as he fought off monsters. Huntress was shooting arrows with more accuracy than Percy could ever achieve, whilst simultaneously trying to keep Night Owl talking to her, and Nico had begun creating a barrier between the monsters and them. Percy just carried on with his water fighting, pushing his worry to the back of his mind until it was safe. He would demand to know where Nico had taken Annabeth, what happened to Night Owl, where the Oracle was; but after they all got out alive.

“Duck!” Blue Spark cried, and a lightning bolt zipped over Percy’s head, striking a storm spirit in the chest. Leo set in on fire.   
“Focus Typhoon, Huntress is taking care of your partner” Blue advised, and Percy nodded. He wished he’d brought Riptide with him; but the sword still wasn’t up to scratch and he was pretty sure that Chiron would fire him from taking it out of the museum. Fixing it had taken a backseat whilst he was fixing Annabeth’s knife, which wasn’t too easy either. Percy grumbled whilst he threw a monster up out of a hole in the ceiling on a jet of boiling water. 

When the fight was over, everyone turned to Night Owl. Huntress had put a Yankees baseball cap on her head, tucking her hair in so that none of it could be seen, and Nico had given her some sort of balaclava to hide her face.   
“We need to get her to the infirmary. She was hit with a knife coated in pit scorpion venom” Huntress explained, and a shudder went through the group. Nico scooped Night Owl up and vanished completely (Percy scolded himself because it was not the time to go all nerdy and impressed) whilst Huntress ran out of the door into the dying sunlight. Percy followed and Inferno and Blue Spark joined him, but before Percy left he saw the knife that Night Owl had been struck with. It was oddly familiar.   
“Hang on” He said, and Blue Spark stopped “I know this knife”   
“That’s- it looks just like the one-"  
“Athena used. Whoever that guy was he stole it” Percy said, staring at the knife angrily. It was coated in the venom, but the chips and cracks were easily distinguishable. Percy had left it in the basement where he repaired the weapons, he hadn’t even realised it was missing; but there it was. He suddenly felt awfully cold.

“Who would take that and try and kill her daughter with it?” Blue Spark asked. Percy gritted his teeth.   
“Someone with a sick sense of humour. Come on, lets see if we can help”   
“Typhoon; let me carry it, you look like you’re gonna stab someone” Blue advised, but Percy shook his head.   
“I could’ve stopped it. I’m not letting this knife out of my sight again”   
Blue Spark just gave him a strange look, before Percy took off on a stream of water and headed for his Mom’s infirmary. 

 

When he barged into the room everyone was there, just as they had been when Inferno had been injured, but Percy sensed a more sombre atmosphere. Night Owl was one of the longest serving heroes, along with Huntress and Blue Spark. Everyone knew her, and everyone worried. 

“What happened?” The Centurion asked, sat with Shifter almost tearily. Percy knew Shifter was trying to hide his worry, because his nose was slightly elongated and his ears had turned pointed under his mask.  
“Night Owl went to retrieve the Oracle” Praetor explained “Judging by the state she’s in, I’m guessing it didn’t go well” 

“You’d be right. The guy stabbed her with a knife coated in pit Scorpion venom. Athena’s knife” Blue Spark explained, and there were noises of outrage around the room. Both Huntress and Red Woman looked as if they were about to say something before thinking better of it.   
“That- that- how dare he! When I find him I’m gonna-   
“Huntress. Calm down” Red soothed, putting a hand on Huntress’ shoulder. She seethed. 

“That’s my best friend. I’m not gonna be calm until this guy is lying in the dirt with my arrows in his chest” She growled. Percy had forgotten how fierce Huntress was; she retired not long after he decided to work closer with the team, so he didn’t really know her that well, all he knew was that she and Night Owl made a terrifying team. She’d retired for the same reason that Grover did; to settle down with someone, keep out of danger for once. Percy wondered how difficult it was to just hang up the mask and drop out. He didn’t think he could do it. 

“So, where’s the Oracle?” Inferno asked “I didn’t see her there”   
“Because she wasn’t there. It was a trick” Nico sighed “That guy still has her”   
“I’d love to know who he was” Centurion muttered darkly, and a few rubies rose from the floor around her feet “So I could give him a piece of my mind”   
“Guys, chill out. Night Owl will be fine, we’ll catch the guy, you’ll all see” Leo said, the only one who’d taken off his disguise and was back in regular clothes.   
“Shouldn’t you be mad?” Percy asked “He attacked you first”   
“Dude, I hated all that disguise stuff, he did me a favour. Sure I didn’t like him attacking me, but I was only gonna reveal myself anyway. This way I’m not in trouble” He said with a grin. Percy really didn’t get Leo sometimes. Like when he was wheeling his trolley down the halls singing ‘this girl is on fire’ whilst the museum was full of people. He was a strange guy.   
"Where's Annabeth?" Percy asked, and both Nico and Thalia looked to him with wide eyes.  
"W-What? Why are you asking about Annabeth?" Nico asked.  
"Because I saw her with you earlier, you both vanished" He said, and Nico paled.  
"He was taking her home" Thalia said firmly, and Nico nodded "She was upset, so he took her home to her room mate"  
Percy let it be, as everyone seemed worried enough without him being suspicious about that too.

 

The whole room became silent when the door to the room Night Owl was in was opened and Percy’s mom stepped out, dark hair pulled back, looking a little tired. He wanted to get her to sit down and make her a coffee, but he couldn't; she wasn't his mother in this suit.  
“Lighten up heroes, she’ll be fine. She just needs to keep up with the ambrosia and rest for a few days. Go and get some rest, make a plan on how to catch the lunatic who did this to her and save Oracle” She said, giving Percy a very knowing smile that made him blush even if he didn’t know why. 

“Thank God. Give her my love okay? I gotta be up for work tomorrow” Shifter said, rising to his feet. He looked completely human now, no random animal features taking over. Centurion followed him out.   
“Can I stay Mrs Jackson?” Huntress asked. She nodded.   
“Just you kid, everyone else has to go” 

Everyone else looked sulky about it, but did as they were told, as Percy’s mom would use her ‘mom voice’ on them; she literally was the den mother for them, especially the people who’s parents were heroes or like Shifter and Centurion who didn’t have parents at all. She gave Percy a warm look.   
“You too young man, go and tell Grover about what happened; you know he worries about Night Owl too, no matter how much he tries not to” She said. Percy sighed.   
“Can I not-   
“No staying here. Night Owl needs rest and right now she’s too weak to grow her feathers, and she doesn’t want anyone knowing who she is”   
“But Huntress-   
“Has known for years. Are you going to work tomorrow?” His mom asked, and Percy frowned.   
“Yeah, why?” He asked. She smiled.   
“No reason. If Annabeth is in, tell her I said hello”   
“Mom, she’s always in. She doesn’t do days off” 

And that was true, because everyone who has mentioned Annabeth has mentioned that she hasn’t had a day off in three years. Why start now?   
“Just tell her, Mrs Jackson says hello. She’ll know who I am” 

Percy hugged his mom goodbye and she kissed his forehead through the mask, and he wondered how his mom knew Annabeth when she seemed to have no idea who she was when Percy told her about her. Women confused him. 

 

Annabeth was in work that next morning (Ha, Percy was right), but she looked sick. She’d paled and there were purple shadows under her eyes, a green tint to her cheeks and her grey eyes weren’t as focused. Percy had gone up to apologise about the knife being stolen and instead strode right up to the desk and grabbed her chin on instinct, tilting her head up to try and see what was wrong with her. From what he knew, Annabeth simply didn’t get sick. 

“What are you doing?” She asked weakly, and he let go, catching on that maybe grabbing someone’s face wasn’t the best of ideas especially when said person could probably throw a heavy book at you.   
“Sorry- you look…”   
“Sick? I am, just a cold. Nothing serious” Annabeth said, and Percy sighed.   
“Why don’t you have a day off?” He asked curiously. She looked up at him.   
“Habit. I’m fine, really” She insisted. Percy leaned on the desk.   
“I have something to tell you” He began. Annabeth paused in her organising of papers.   
“What? What happened?” She asked.   
“The knife you gave me. Someone has taken it. I’m so sorry Annabeth, I had no idea until last night-   
“Last Night?” She asked sharply. Percy gulped.   
“Uh, I came back late to fix it, but it was gone” He lied, hoping that she’d buy it.

“Oh. Do you know who took it?” She asked quietly. Percy shook his head and felt like he’d let her down.   
“No I don’t. I can check though, there are cameras down there and Leo has a pad that can show us the footage-   
“Yeah, check that. Uh, I need to take my- cold tablets. I’ll be right back” Annabeth said hurriedly, and stood shakily, heading to the bathroom on legs that looked as f they were about to give out with every step. She shouldn't be in work, but he had no doubt she wouldn't listen to him if he told her to go home. Percy decided he’d find Leo during that time, and wandered the halls, weaving through visitors who were looking at the artwork and weaponry. 

“Leo! Hey, Leo!” Percy called, spotting the elf-like features a mile away. Leo turned and grinned.   
“Newbie! What can Leo do for you?” He asked "You want to hear all the hero gossip?"   
“What? No, I need the security tapes for the basement, you got them?” He asked. Leo reached into his tool belt (why he had a tool belt, Percy didn’t know) and pulled out a tablet that should have been too big to fit in there. 

“That’s a brand new Festus security system, all footage is live-streamed. Tap that button and you can browse through it. Are you trying to catch the employees sneaking into the supply cupboards again? Because I’m sure Hazel and Frank-"  
“No, nothing like that. I doubt I would want to be scarred with that footage. Thanks Leo, I’ll get this back to you in no time” Percy said, and Leo grinned, tipped an invisible hat and set off down the hall, whistling to himself and waving at people who recognised him as Inferno. Percy watched him in bemusement for a moment, before heading back to Annabeth, scrolling through the security footage as he went. He found the camera trained on the basement where he took damaged weapons; most of the footage was just of him working and then that one time when he and Jason had a sparring match with two swords and wore ridiculous hats left over from Leo’s Mad Hat Mondays. He skipped through that part; it was highly embarrassing, though he must remember to blackmail Jason with it later. 

“Annabeth, I got it!” Percy called, wandering back into the large open space where Annabeth’s workplace was, and found Thalia with her. Thalia worked in the research side of things Percy remembered, collecting pieces of ancient monsters and discovering new info on old Greek legends. She was rubbing Annabeth’s back and speaking quiet words of comfort, as if they'd just had an argument and were in the process of apologising to each other.  
“Got what?” Thalia asked curiously.   
“Security footage from the basement where Athena’s knife was stolen from. Percy, have you found the right bit?” Annabeth inquired, and Percy nodded.   
“I think so. Yeah, here it is” He said, sitting himself on the desk and holding out the tablet so all of them could see. A dude in a hoodie was sneaking around the weapons, taking each blade out and inspecting it before moving on. Percy cursed himself when he saw how carelessly he’d left the knife on the worktop; he could’ve stowed it away somewhere and Night Owl wouldn’t have been stabbed by her mother’s blade. 

“Thalia- are you okay?” Annabeth asked quietly. Thalia looked as white as a sheet and was shaking. Percy could tell she recognised the thief.   
“It’s- It’s…I have to go. I’ll take this back” She said, snatching the tablet from Percy’s hands and practically running out of the door, and Percy looked to Annabeth in confusion.   
“What was that all about?” He asked. She was staring at the point where Thalia had vanished into the elevators.   
“Whatever it was, it wasn’t good news” 

Percy had to wonder when anything was around here.


	7. Chapter 7

Annabeth was worried. Well, she was naturally a worrier since her mother died; will she ever live up to her? Can she really juggle two lives and two jobs? Will Typhoon ever stop trying to surfboard down streets packed with shoppers? These were her struggles. 

But now it was really personal. Now she worried about Thalia. 

Thalia Grace was headstrong. She was fierce and she was fearless. Annabeth had only once seen that attitude waver, and it wasn’t a good time then either. She knew who the thief was, and she wasn’t telling Annabeth, which meant that Thalia was scared. 

Thalia told Annabeth everything. 

 

Like when she’d kissed Luke for the first time. Or when she found out that her little brother Jason had a crush. Or those many times that Annabeth had been given a little too much information and she couldn’t look her best friend in the eye for days afterward. It was traumatic. And when she didn’t tell Annabeth something? Practically unheard of, unless it scared Thalia enough that she couldn’t feel like she could tell anyone. 

So when Annabeth opened the door to find her home empty, she worried. She bit her nails. She paced. She suited up and searched the city. She even called Jason to check if he’d seen her (he hadn’t). Where could she have possibly gone? And Luke was no help either; the idiot had left his phone on Annabeth’s couch, and Thalia’s was switched off. 

 

“That face worries me” Typhoon greeted, swooping in on his wave of water and sitting next to her. Annabeth had found herself at one of her favourite thinking spots; a building overlooking the cemetery, where she could see her mother’s statue. Her mother was a genius, she made the IQ’s of everyone in a room go up when she entered. If Annabeth wanted to figure something out, she looked at her mother’s statue, and it worked most of the time. 

“It should. Huntress has vanished” Annabeth said.   
“What? Like suspicious vanished, or ‘lost in a supermarket’ vanished?” Typhoon demanded. Annabeth hugged her knees.   
“Suspicious vanished. She knows something about the knife I was stabbed with. Athena’s knife”   
“I thought no one told you which-"  
“I’m not stupid, Typhoon, I figured out which Knife it was” Annabeth interrupted. That and she worked at the place it was stolen from. Perks of leading a double life.   
“So, Huntress knows who it was?” Typhoon asked. Annabeth shrugged.   
“She knows something. Either who took it, or who stabbed me, or both” She told him. 

“You shouldn’t be out after that Night Owl. You need rest” He advised, but Annabeth shook him off. She’d taken enough pain killers to numb an elephant; she could hardly feel the effects of the poison, only that it made her feel like she was getting the flu. Granted, it also made her walk and fly as if she was drunk, but since Thalia and Luke had vanished off the face of the earth she didn’t have a choice but to be out here looking for them. 

“I need to find my friend, Typhoon. Then I can rest. We also need to find Oracle, since she’s still with the guy in the gold mask. And we need to get rid of Gold Mask Guy, and then I’ll hibernate if it’ll get you off my back” She told him. She knew he was raising an eyebrow under his mask.   
“I’m just worried about you” He said quietly.   
“Well don’t be worried about me. I’m worried enough for the whole of Olympus” She retorted.   
“Do you not care about yourself enough to heal before you take off?”   
“Do you not realise I want you to leave?”   
“Why are you so defensive?!”   
“Why are you so nosy?!”   
“God dammit Night Owl, don’t you realise that everyone wants to help you? Stop shutting the world out because of something you couldn’t control!”   
“You don’t get it! I could’ve stopped it, saved them-"   
“Well you know what, I was there too. And I think that same thing, but you don’t see me hurting the people that care about me by shutting them out because I can’t face failing again”   
Annabeth shut her mouth with a click, staring at Typhoon in shock. 

“You-you were there?” She asked. She flashed back to the day the first team fell, racking her brains to place him at the scene, but couldn’t find him. She didn’t remember him being there.   
“Yeah. You weren’t the only one who changed their name when the day was over” Typhoon said quietly, and Annabeth gasped, remembering the boy in green- the boy who vanished.

“You were Water Whip. That was you. And he disappeared, and then Typhoon came-"  
“And you went from Wise Girl to Night Owl. Looks like we’re not that different after all” He said, and she frowned.   
“But you- it doesn’t even affect you. Its like you don’t even care-"

“I care, Night Owl. My dad was there along with your Mom. But its been three years- I’ve learned to move on. I’ve gotten better at fighting, controlled my powers, stopped letting the past hold me back. You should do the same” He said, and there was a sharpness in his tone that Annabeth had never heard before. He got up, glancing at the statues in the cemetery before turning away.   
“I hope you find your friend” He said, and water rose under his feet, lifting him up and away from her “And I hope you listen to me for once. See ya around, Night Owl” 

 

Annabeth watched him go, eyes still like saucers, and when he vanished she hugged her knees tightly to her chest and watched Poseidon’s statue, wondering how she could’ve judged someone so wrongly. 

 

Eventually, Annabeth got back to searching; she flew lower, between the buildings instead of above them, waving back at the people who grinned and pointed her out. The streets were packed as usual, all lit up for the holiday season. This was why she liked working at the museum; they didn’t put up Christmas trees (mainly because there was no room between the giant statues and Leo’s many weapons that he’d bribed Reyna into buying), it was like any normal day there. Christmas Eve was in two days, and that was obvious from how frantic the shoppers below her were, who’d left present buying a little late and were trying to get it all done in time. Annabeth swooped into one of the quieter side streets, where there were secret entrances to bars and such, when she saw Rachel.

Rachel, who hadn’t been to work since…well since Oracle vanished. Annabeth felt like she was onto something there, and landed before her. Rachel started. 

“Night Owl! Thank God!” She squeaked, and she was covered in dirt, her red hair was matted with mud and leaves, and there was a cut across her cheek that had started to heal.   
“What happened to you?” She asked, and Rachel looked around frantically.   
“I escaped” She said, and Annabeth knew she was Oracle then. It was obvious.   
“Escaped from…the gold mask dude?” Annabeth asked. Rachel nodded.   
“I ran through the woods on the outskirts of town to get away, but he was preoccupied with Huntress-"  
“Huntress?” Annabeth asked sharply. Rachel flinched.   
“You- maybe we should sit you down or something”   
“I would rather stand”   
“No I insist-   
“Rachel. What about Huntress?” Annabeth demanded. Rachel fidgeted. 

“Well, she turned up as I was about to make a run for it, and she and The Guy in the mask had this big argument about betrayals and his Mom and Heroes- and then he asked her to join him. I wanted to tell her not to, I mean I know this doesn’t end well, but she said yes. And then they made out, but I ran because ew, Gross”   
“Oh My Gods” Annabeth breathed, and Rachel frowned.   
“What?” She asked.   
“We need to call a meeting. Now. Come on” She said, grabbing Rachel and shooting upwards into the sky, heading for Mrs Jackson’s infirmary. When they arrived Annabeth borrowed Rachel’s phone and ordered everybody to get down there as fast as possible, and within five minutes they were there, surrounding her and watching her in utter confusion. Mrs Jackson patched Rachel up and everyone quietened down. 

 

“What did you call us here for, Night Owl?” Chiron asked, hovering beside Rachel with a hand on her shoulder.   
“Huntress has joined Gold Mask Guy” She announced, and there were sounds of shock, and betrayal. Red Woman stood beside Annabeth and put an arm around her, and Centurion squeezed her hand. Annabeth didn't squeeze back; her arms felt too numb and heavy for that as the realisation of what Thalia has done settled.

“Why would she do that?” Blue Spark asked angrily, fists clenched.   
“Because she loves him. I know she’ll hate me for this, but the only way we can help her is if you all know who she really is. And who he is” Annabeth said, looking at Typhoon, who was wearing an expression she couldn’t read. 

“You know them?” Shifter asked curiously, and Annabeth nodded.   
“The Huntress’ real name is Thalia Grace. And the guy in the mask…is her boyfriend, Luke Castellan. Now I know, I sort of get why he’s doing this” She explained, and the whole room seemed to get colder. Red Woman’s grip on her had tightened, and all around the room were looks of horror.   
“What do you mean?” Typhoon demanded. Annabeth sighed. 

“Huntress is my best friend. I know Luke. And I know what happened with his Mom”   
“Well explain. We can only solve a problem if we know what it is” Chiron said gravely, exchanging a worried glance with Mrs Jackson. 

 

“Well, do you remember when The First team were offering the chance for someone to join them? You know, get a power, be a hero- like Dionysus did” Annabeth began. There were nods and murmurs of confirmation.   
“Well, Luke’s Mom volunteered. She wanted the gift of sight- Rachel’s power. The First Team said that it might not work, the power could reject her- but she insisted. Luke was only small”   
“So, it rejected her?” Inferno asked, the only one not wearing their outfit; Annabeth supposed he didn’t need to anymore. Still, it was weird to look at him and know who he really was. 

“It did more than that. She was compatible with the power, and it seemed like it worked at first, but then- then it went wrong. She went sort of crazy; she saw too much, she had fits, she became so unstable that The First Team had to take the power away, and she was put into hospital, permanently” Annabeth told them, and everyone looked like they had crumpled slightly, as if the air had become heavier somehow and it pushed down on them. Annabeth looked at the floor; she hated hearing and telling this story, which is why she rarely did. She hated how guilty she felt telling the Heroes. 

“Rachel got the power next” Typhoon guessed, and Annabeth nodded.   
“Yeah. The First Team announced that there was a new hero, and it kind of drove Luke over the edge. He hated us, he hated our parents. When they died; I think he was the only person who was happy about it, besides Gaea, but we finished her so she couldn't show it. He never forgave them for hurting his Mom, and then giving the power she was ‘meant to have’ to someone else and not condemning them to the same fate. That’s why Thalia never told him who she was. She loved him and she was afraid that he’d hate her if he knew. She retired, quit the hero life, so she could be with him. And now, well; they’re going to fight us together” Annabeth finished heavily, and the group kept their eyes on her, most of them wearing stony expressions. Shifter had transformed into a panther and was growling, whilst Centurion hugged his neck and whispered things to him. Blue Spark looked as if he was about to bring the whole building down, what Annabeth could see from his face was transformed with rage. Typhoon looked as if he was in the same state. Annabeth just felt a little empty. 

 

“Well, now we know, we have more options. We can stop them before they go too far” Chiron said, always the optimist, and the heroes let out a collective sigh.   
“Well we need to be quick; because they already have a plan. They’re trying to wake up Kronos” Annabeth announced, and Praetor jumped so violently she slammed into Inferno, sending him sprawling across the floor. Typhoon pulled him up by his collar.   
“What? That can’t be possible” Centurion said, and a bunch of diamonds appeared around her knees, making a little nest around her that would set Annabeth for life.   
“Well, Hypnos isn’t around anymore; the sleeping spell he put on Kronos may be weakened. Is that what he wanted you for, Night Owl? To wake him up?” Chiron asked. Annabeth nodded. 

“I refused to help him. He said for every time I refuse, he’d take someone else. And he took Thalia from me” She said sadly. Red Woman rubbed her back comfortingly.   
“We’ll get her back” Typhoon said “And we’ll stop this”   
“How?” Blue Spark asked “We can’t hurt Huntress”   
“We’ll have to figure something out before its too late. Right now, we need to protect Night Owl; if Huntress is on Luke’s side, its only a matter of time before they come back for her too”   
Annabeth shivered, and the team looked to her, all determined.   
“They aren’t coming near you” Typhoon promised, giving her a grim smile.   
“Yeah, we got your back” Red Woman agreed. Mrs Jackson beamed around the room.   
“I’m glad you’re all working together. Try not to get too injured okay?”   
Typhoon winked at her, and Night Owl smiled. Maybe opening up won’t be so bad after all.


	8. Chapter 8

Percy absolutely loved the rain. Considering he could control the water and rain was literally tonnes of water cascading from the clouds, it was safe to say that he was in his element. He walked to work that morning, his umbrella over his head (because he had to keep up appearances, and arriving at work completely dry would raise suspicion if he left his umbrella down) and whistled a little as he stepped in all the puddles on the way. 

He spotted a familiar head of curly blonde hair ahead of him, skirting under all the shelters on the buildings and cursing to herself. Percy smiled and caught up to her, reaching over to hold the umbrella above her head instead. She turned in surprise.   
“Oh. Morning Percy” She greeted grumpily, pushing her damp hair from her face. She was wearing a blue raincoat, all buttoned up, and Percy would be lying if he denied that he thought it was adorable.   
“Did you forget the hood?” He asked, noticing that it was missing from the back of the coat. She huffed.   
“Lost it ages ago, assumed I’d never need it. Then my umbrella broke. I’m not having a good day” She told him, walking nearer to him so they could share the umbrella and both stay dry.   
“Sorry about that; Umbrellas tend to break when you need them. Luckily, I’m here instead” Percy replied, smiling proudly, and she tutted. Percy could understand the less-than-talkative attitude; she lived with Thalia, who had vanished. She probably knew where she went, along with one of her other closest friends. He doubted a broken umbrella was the thing at the root of her bad day. 

“My hero” Annabeth muttered sarcastically.   
“Always here to help. I’m no Typhoon, who is awesome, but I get by”   
Ah, Percy loved boasting about himself without anyone realising that it was him. Annabeth sighed.   
“He is that” She said quietly. Then she stopped, staring ahead of her at where the museum waited, doors open in welcome.   
“Are you okay?” Percy asked worriedly. She looked like she was about to cry, and according to Jason, that was unheard of; Annabeth comforted other people when they cried, or she was the reason for it. Not that he'd asked of course, Annabeth just happened to pop up in normal, non-creepy conversations. He didn't ask.

“Can we go somewhere? I really don’t want to go in there and face everyone’s pity stares” She asked softly. Percy was taken aback, but he agreed.   
“Sure. One day off won’t hurt. Come on, I know a coffee shop with the most amazing couches ever. And the coffee is pretty good too” 

Annabeth smiled and linked his arm, and they walked beneath the umbrella to Percy’s favourite coffee shop; right across the street from the candy shop that hid away his Mom’s infirmary; it sold blue candy and she always gave him bags of it when he dropped by (which was always, because Percy loved blue food).   
“Why are you drooling at Sweets on America?” Annabeth asked suspiciously. Percy grinned.   
“My Mom always gives me blue candy when I go in. I might get a bag later” He said. Annabeth frowned.   
“Jackson…Mrs Jackson is your mom? So that’s why she told me to say hello” She said, and Percy nodded.   
“Yeah she says she knows you. Although my Mom knows everyone, she told me to say hello to you too. So, hello Annabeth. Now, time for coffee” 

Percy put the umbrella down as they stepped inside, Annabeth sighing as the warm air hit them. Percy told her to sit upstairs and he ordered two coffees, and was about to follow her up with them when someone caught his eye. 

“Jason?” He called, noticing the guy sat at a table on his own, nursing a cup of hot chocolate and looking unhappy. Jason looked up and almost knocked his hot chocolate everywhere, and Percy made his way over, sitting in front of him.   
“Hey Percy, weird seeing you here, huh? Why are you here?” Jason asked, running a hand through his short blonde hair nervously.   
“I was getting coffee with Annabeth, she's upset. Why are you here?” He replied, and Jason eyed the door. Percy noticed the second mug on the table, half-empty, and the parka slung over the seat.   
“She’s my sister, Percy, no matter what she chooses to do” Jason told him.   
“I understand that, man. I really do. But be careful okay? She might be your sister, but she’s gonna do something terrible and I’d hate to see you mixed up in that”   
“I can take care of myself”   
“Whatever dude, just trying to help” Percy told him, hands up in mock surrender, nearly spilling coffee everywhere “I’m going upstairs, you do what you gotta do” 

 

Jason nodded and Percy left, climbing the stairs to the upper floor. He hoped Jason made the right choice; he didn’t think he could stand anyone else jumping ship and trying to wake Kronos. It was bad enough that Luke was attempting it, but Thalia? Kronos killed her mentor, and she was still on board. 

“What took you so long?” Annabeth asked, looking up from a book she’d taken from the huge shelf lining the back wall. She’d opted to sit on the couch in front of the window, the outside world blurred out from sheets of rain pouring down the glass. Percy handed her a mug and joined her.   
“I went to the bathroom” He lied, guessing that she didn’t want to hear about Thalia being in the building “What are you reading?”   
Annabeth held up a Harry Potter book, and Percy nodded.   
“Good choice, I loved those movies”   
“Movies? Did you read the books? The movies suck compared to the books” Annabeth said. Percy rubbed the back of his neck.   
“I’m a little Dyslexic; books and I don’t get along. My Mom used to read them to me when I was younger though, and I have the audiobooks. Sucks that my Hogwarts letter never came”   
“Same here; when I turned eleven I waited at my mailbox for weeks” Annabeth admitted, and Percy laughed.   
“Me too! I didn’t know you were a Potter nerd too” 

“Everyone is a Potter nerd, Percy. Even if they’ve never read it they know it” Annabeth said wisely, and took a sip of her coffee. They settled into a comfortable silence, and Percy sneakily made patterns in the rain on the window, like horses running and owls swooping in from above. Annabeth was engrossed in her book and didn’t notice. She’d tucked her hair behind her ear and was biting her bottom lip as she read, and she reminded Percy of Hermione Granger, but in Percy’s opinion she was much prettier. Now instead of daydreaming about orange eyes and feathers, he pictured stormy grey ones and curly blonde hair. 

“What would you do if you were me?” Annabeth asked suddenly, and Percy frowned.   
“If one of your closest friends decided to join the dark side and roped in the person who was like a sibling to you, what would you do? Fight them? Join them? What do I do?” She repeated, staring at him with those grey eyes, catching his gaze and not letting go. He sighed. 

“You make them change their minds. If this was Grover, I wouldn’t let him carry on like this, I’d drag his ass home and smack some sense into him. But if they won’t…you have to choose” Percy told her, and she pulled her legs up onto the couch, and he shuffled closer, hoping to comfort her in some way. Whenever his Mom broke up with her boyfriends, or when she was stuck with Smelly Gabe, he always use to tuck her under his chin and tell her everything is okay, he was still there and he would love her more than any guy that came along. 

“I don’t want to choose” Annabeth mumbled, looking small and unsure of herself, and of course that wouldn’t do, so Percy set his coffee down and wrapped his arms around her like he did with his Mom. Annabeth was stiff and tense at first, freezing as he rested his head on hers, but relaxed eventually, sighing into his shirt.   
“I know, but you’ll have to. Either them or this city” Percy told her, and he felt a hand gripping the back of his shirt.   
“You have no idea how hard that is” She mumbled.   
“Believe me” Percy breathed, staring at the rain-soaked window “I know” 

 

That night Percy called Chiron to apologise for not turning up (it was okay he said, half the staff showed up late and he ended up closing the museum early and letting them all go home- again, Percy had to wonder how it stayed afloat) and he took Annabeth back to his place so she wouldn’t be going home to an empty apartment. When they arrived Grover and Juniper were already there, Juniper cooking Enchiladas whilst Grover ‘helped’, which mainly consisted of him trying to eat the food as it cooked and Juniper swatting him away. 

“Hey, same shirt!” Percy cried, pointed at Grover’s orange shirt.   
“Same shirt!” Grover repeated, and they high-fived. Juniper looked at them both as if they were insane. She obviously didn’t understand the unity of two people wearing the same shirt. Annabeth hovered at the counter, and Juniper turned to her, her long dark hair swishing as she went.   
“Finally, another girl! I’m Juniper” She greeted, and Annabeth smiled.   
“Annabeth”   
Grover grinned at Percy and Percy made a ‘shut your mouth or I’ll punch you’ face.   
“Annabeth, huh? The same Annabeth who works at the museum?” 

Obviously Grover didn’t understand that face. He’d learn the hard way if he said anything.   
“Yeah, though there aren’t many Annabeth’s in Olympus” She said, and Percy could see her inching toward Juniper, probably feeling more at home with another woman rather than Percy and Grover. Juniper warmed up to her instantly, looking relieved when she joined in the cooking rather than Grover stealing all the food. 

“You boys go and put a movie on or something, make yourselves useful rather than standing about grinning at your matching shirts. Really, it might as well be you two getting married” Juniper ordered, and Percy chuckled.   
“What do you think Perce, big white wedding?” Grover asked, wiggling his eyebrows.   
“Nah, Vegas all the way, I really wanna meet those Elvis impersonators that marry people”   
Annabeth laughed but covered her mouth, and Percy marched triumphantly to the DVD shelf. 

“You’re such a dork” Grover teased, pulling down DVDs and making a mess.   
“Shut up, you’re worse with Juniper”   
“She’s my fiancée, I can be all dorky with her. You have no excuse since you deny liking Annabeth- No, we are not watching finding Nemo again!” Grover complained, and Percy pouted, holding the box in his hand like the sacred artefact it was. When he was old Percy was putting it in a museum, no matter what Grover said.  
“Why not? It’s a great movie!”   
“I’ve seen it seventeen times Percy. Seventeen. And you cry every time!”   
“You cry at Pan’s Labyrinth!”   
“ITS HEARTBRAKING!”   
“SO IS NEMO!” 

“Guys, what are you yelling about?” Annabeth asked, and both boys jumped; she’d somehow crept up on them and sat herself down on the sofa, knees tucked under her as if she belonged there.   
“How did you- are you a ninja?” Grover asked, and she smiled.   
“Nope, you two are too busy arguing about movies to notice me sitting down. What are you fighting for? Watch them both” She said. Grover rolled his eyes.   
“We’ve watched finding Nemo seventeen times, Percy knows all the words, I can’t deal with that again”   
“Don’t be such a baby” Percy told him. Grover huffed, and Annabeth watched them both in amusement.   
“I’m not. You and your movie choices just personally offend me. Its like when you made me watch Sharknado. I can’t believe you enjoyed it” Grover said, and Percy laughed.   
“I can’t believe you didn’t” He muttered. Grover looked outraged, but Annabeth was trying not to laugh, so it was a win. 

 

They ate dinner and the movies began, everyone squished onto the sofa, Juniper and Grover a tangle of limbs, Percy and Annabeth wedged together from shoulder to knee. Percy got his wish and they watched Finding Nemo (he quoted the whole film and Annabeth called him a nerd whilst Grover pelted him with popcorn but Percy regrets nothing) and Grover watched Pan’s Labyrinth; Percy snickered whilst he cried and Juniper smiled and sacrificed her shoulder for him to soak in his tears. 

The girls chose films too; Juniper and Annabeth seemed to love making Percy and Grover suffer and chose the notebook, and both girls were wearing smirks the entire time it played. Annabeth didn't even like that movie, and he knew because he'd heard her arguing about it with Piper one memorable lunch break. She just wanted to see he and Grover suffer.  
“Why do we even own that movie?” Grover muttered to himself, and Percy swore that Juniper and Annabeth high-fived. 

After the fourth movie, Percy found that he had become a pillow; Juniper’s feet were in his lap, whilst Annabeth was curled up under his arm against his side. It wasn’t a bad thing, and he found himself drifting off a few times before a sudden noise from the movie jarred him back into consciousness. Annabeth was sleeping against his shoulder, and he smiled, glad that the worry lines on her forehead and around her eyes had faded away. 

“I’m going to bed. Are you coming Grover?” Juniper asked, and Grover nodded, and the pair of them disappeared into Grover’s room. Percy nudged Annabeth, and she made a grumpy sound, burying her head in his chest stubbornly. So, he could assume she was irritable when tired. Probably not a happy morning person. It was kind of cute, actually.  
“Annabeth, do you want my bed? I can sleep on the couch” He offered, trying to wake her gently.   
“I don’t care. Just wanna sleep” She said, and he chuckled.   
“You don’t sound so smart when you’re tired” He pointed out.   
“You don’t sound smart when you’re awake”   
“Touche. Come on smart ass, you’re sleeping in my bed” He said, and scooped her up, carrying her across the room easily.   
“Ugh, put me down” Annabeth mumbled.   
“Sure thing, just give me a minute” 

Thank God Percy’s Mom dropped by the other day and he cleaned his room so she wouldn’t scold him. He set Annabeth down and reached for the covers to pull over her, but she clung to him.   
“You are a snuggler when you’re sleepy; I will hold this against you” He told her.   
“Shut up seaweed brain” She replied, and man did she have a strong grip.   
“Annabeth let go”   
“No”   
“You’ll kill me in the morning”   
“I don’t care”   
“I do! I want to not die because you woke up in the same bed as me and assumed I was some creep” 

Annabeth was as stubborn as Percy though, and he was tired, so he just gave up, staying on his side of the bed so that she wouldn’t throttle him when she woke up. If only she did the same.   
“Seriously?” He asked “Do you want to get me killed?” 

Annabeth just curled up and rested her head against his chest, and he sighed, trying not to smile as she sighed contentedly.   
“I’m blaming you if you get mad” He warned.   
“I won’t” She replied. He just took her word for it and wrapped an arm around her, because hey, he liked cuddling, and he wasn’t going to hold back if she wanted to cuddle him. Hell, Percy was a great hugger, even if he didn’t get to show it often because he spent half his time in a skin-tight suit battling bad guys. He couldn’t exactly cuddle criminals. 

Annabeth was not a criminal though, she was soft and warm and smelled like lemon shampoo, and Percy smiled as he felt waves of sleep drift over him. He could risk her punching him in the morning if he could sleep as peacefully as he did now.


	9. Chapter 9

Annabeth was confused when she woke; she was used to sleeping coiled up tight like a spring, ready to jump up at any moment and become Night Owl. She was a very light sleeper, very reserved and often only inhabited the very edge of her bed, always dreaming vividly. But when she felt consciousness creep up on her she was safe, warm and pretty sure that a pick-up truck could’ve driven through the room and she wouldn’t have stirred. It was a pleasant sort of surprise, the feeling of a good night’s sleep after so long of being called out for an emergency or her alarm waking her, or a nasty dream making her jolt upright. 

The bed smelled like the beach she and her father used to visit before he moved away, salty but not at all unpleasant. The person she’d taken as her human pillow had the same scent, and she was sure she’d smelt it somewhere; though in her sleep-addled state, she couldn’t place where. Annabeth should have been on guard, or angry, or something, but she wasn’t- she was relaxed, unnaturally so, and burrowed into the side of her pillow, who was still out cold. 

 

Percy Jackson was a peaceful sleeper. Annabeth was lucky she wasn’t near his head, because he seemed to have a slight drooling problem, but apart from that- though she hated to admit it- he looked quite adorable. His hair was all fluffy and messy and he was a hugger, if Annabeth wanted to leave she’d probably have to wake him up to let her go. Thank God she didn’t need the bathroom. He had his arms around her and she rested her head on his chest, listening to a calm, steady heartbeat. Somehow her hands had crept under his t-shirt in her sleep, which should be weird, but Annabeth just decided to roll with it, especially since there was a well-toned body under the material and her hands were not ready to leave the warmth yet. 

She almost went back to sleep, which was unheard of when it came to Annabeth, but Percy began to wake, pulling her closer to him unconsciously and mumbling incoherently.   
“Morning seaweed brain” Annabeth said quietly, as Percy opened one bleary sea green eye. He yelped and almost fell off the edge of the bed.   
“Annabeth! You- I- why are you laughing?” He demanded, and Annabeth held in her giggles.   
“You seem surprised to see me” She told him.   
“No I just- I forgot for a moment. I think I’m still half-asleep” He said, rubbing his eyes. She shrugged.   
“That’s okay. I am too” She replied, and he stared at her for a moment. 

“Your hair is really curly in the morning” He said, and she scowled, patting it down subconsciously.   
“Yeah, I hate it” Annabeth grumbled. Percy reached over and pushed a single curl behind her ear.   
“Why? I think its pretty” He told her, and she was pretty sure she blushed embarrassingly.   
“Zombies, get your butts out here!” Grover called, and Percy chuckled.   
“You hungry? Grover makes a mean fry up” 

Annabeth nodded and Percy got up to get changed, and she looked at the photos that Percy had on his bedside table; A much younger Mrs Jackson smiling next to a man in a Hawaiian shirt holding a trident, a small baby in her arms. A six year old Percy with missing teeth and his signature messy black hair fishing with the same man from the first picture, holding a fish up to the camera and grinning proudly. There was also a photo of Percy and his Mom, baking what looked like blue cookies.   
“I’ve always had a thing about blue food” Percy said, making Annabeth jump because she hadn’t heard him return. She smiled.   
“You were cute, what happened?”   
Percy stuck his tongue out.   
“I got even cuter, thank you very much. Come on, Grover is almost done making breakfast” 

 

Annabeth and Percy left his room and went straight for the kitchen, where Grover was making food that smelled so good it made Annabeth’s stomach rumble the moment she smelled it.   
“I hope you like bacon” Grover called, and Percy grinned.   
“Finally kicked the vegetarianism?” He asked. Grover nodded.   
“Yeah, I realised that I loved meat. Juniper still hasn’t though” 

Juniper was sat eating a bowl of porridge and looking grumpy. Annabeth took a seat next to her and she smiled.   
“Morning Annabeth. How did you sleep?” She asked.   
“Very well” Annabeth told her. Juniper gave her a knowing look.   
“Of course, Percy is the best at being slept on. Did he hug you?”   
“Like a koala bear” Annabeth confirmed. Grover snickered, whilst Percy looked betrayed.   
“Dude! I knew you were a-   
“Hey, manly men can cuddle too” Percy huffed, and Grover chuckled.   
“Yeah, but you’re not a manly man”   
Percy sulked until he ate the bacon, and Grover earned himself a bruised bicep. According to him, it was worth it. Juniper and Annabeth exchanged glances. 

 

Annabeth left not long after; she had to get home to check if Thalia had made an appearance, visit Jason and make sure he was okay and do some grocery shopping. Percy offered to walk with her, but she turned him down in case there was an emergency and she had to become Night Owl. She wouldn’t want him caught up in all that stuff anyway, he might get hurt and she didn’t want that. 

She wandered back to her apartment, finding the place empty, and did her shopping. She still bought all Thalia’s favourite foods, as if she’d come home and raid the fridge like usual. Annabeth was hoping it was all a mistake, that it wasn’t really Luke and Thalia trying to destroy the world. It was just someone who looked like them, that’s all. 

Annabeth couldn’t sit around in an empty apartment all day, so she grew out her feathers and went for a fly, meeting Red Woman and Inferno on a rooftop near the museum.   
“Night Owl! I’m glad you’re here” Red Woman greeted, looking concerned. Annabeth was instantly suspicious.   
“Why?” She asked. Leo grinned.   
“Well, we have some visitors! Don’t worry, they only threatened to kill me twice-   
“Only twice?” Annabeth cut in “They must be friendly”   
Leo scowled, and his hair set on fire at the ends. 

“Anyway” Red Woman said, drawing Annabeth’s attention back to her “We have the visitors gathered below, though they’re a little…divided”   
“Divided? What do you mean?” Annabeth asked, frowning. Red Woman led her to the edge of the roof.   
“Take a look” 

 

On the ground below a large group of people gathered, most of them female and wearing very familiar parkas and carrying bows and weapons. The girls were in two groups, arguing loudly, and two more people stood between them; a tall guy wearing glasses, and a younger girl with honey-coloured hair. 

“Stop! Stop fighting!” Annabeth called, swooping down next to the boy. The quarrels quietened. Red woman and Inferno joined her.   
“Night Owl” A girl greeted, wearing a silver circlet on her head that used to Grace Thalia’s, completing her outfit.   
“Nightshade. Why are the Huntresses here? I thought Artemis had said never to return?”   
“Artemis has been gone for years, and another threatens you. We’ve come to help” 

“You’ve come to help” Another girl piped up, stood in the opposite group “We’ve come to help our old Lieutenant”   
“Thalia is no longer your leader” Zoe snapped.   
“Well we don’t think you’re good enough for the job” The girl shot back.   
“Girls, cool down” Red Woman ordered, and the girls were silenced. 

“Who are you?” Inferno asked, facing the two who weren’t part of the hunters. The girl stepped forward, chin up.   
“My name is Calypso, daughter of Atlas. I was dragged here by these brutes” She said, and the hunters made angry noises.   
“You have information on the titans, you were useful” Zoe said, and Calypso huffed.   
“And you?” Annabeth asked, looking to the giant figure before her. She had to look up to see his face, and he smiled.   
“I am Tyson. I’m here to make things go BOOM!”   
“That’s my job” Leo pouted. Annabeth frowned.   
“Wait, Tyson? I know you” She said. Red Woman nodded.   
“Yeah, you were the good Cyclops who hung around with Typhoon”   
“Typhoon! Where’s brother?” Tyson asked.   
“He’s uh- in the bathroom. He’ll be back soon” Annabeth told him, and Tyson nodded.   
“I’ve missed my brother” Was all he said. 

“So, hunters; half of you are here to help Thalia, half to help us” Red Woman called, and the Hunters nodded, each giving the opposite side dirty looks.   
“Look, we’d rather keep the fighting to a minimum-   
“Well tell Nightshade to back down”   
“You tell them to pull their heads from their back sides and realise what Thalia is trying to do!” Zoe cried. The Hunters all reached for their weapons at once.   
“Stop!” Red Woman ordered, and thanks to her charmspeak, the hunters did. 

“We’re gonna take you to Chiron. He’ll sort this out. For now, no one gets to Thalia, you got that?” Annabeth called, and the Hunters nodded, some annoyed, some glad. Annabeth and Red Woman led the way, whilst Leo hung back with Tyson and Calypso, smiling at the girl a little dazedly.   
“Uh oh” Red Woman muttered, giggling. Annabeth rolled her eyes.   
“She won’t go for him”   
“Oh come on, she so will”   
“What? No, she’s far too-   
“Bet you ten bucks she’ll like him back”   
“In what, ten years? You’re on” 

Annabeth and Red shook on it. Annabeth looked back at Leo and snickered; she had so just won ten bucks. 

 

Chiron dealt with the hunters as only a leader could; within half an hour of them seeing him they no longer wanted to kill each other. Calypso had been sat with Leo in that time and Annabeth felt her ten bucks slipping away, whilst Tyson called her pretty and tried to pull out her feathers. Red Woman thankfully called Typhoon so he’d stop, and it didn’t take long for him to arrive, bringing with him the smell of the sea and a typical grand entrance, catching Red Woman before she was caught up by the wave of water he had entered on. He grinned at her and Annabeth scowled, though she didn’t know why. 

“Brother!” Tyson cried, and barrelled into Typhoon with enough force to knock out an elephant. Typhoon just barely managed to hold his ground, skidding back a few feet on the marble floor of Chiron’s office, located on the top floor of the museum. Annabeth was so tempted to go and sit at her desk and sort through some ancient Greek literature, but she had other matters to deal with, and Night Owl deciding to go and do some work in a museum would raise more than a few eyebrows. Jason was in the office too, looking at the hunters warily. No doubt Chiron had beat her to talking to him about Thalia and convincing him not to join her and Luke on their insane crusade. 

“Now, girls, we’ll need extra patrols around the clock to keep an eye on all activity from huntress and Luke. I trust you know how to track her?” Chiron asked. Zoe Nightshade looked as if she was about to whack Chiron with her bow.   
“We are hunters Chiron, we know how to track one of our own. Come on Hunters, get into pairs and we’ll divide Olympus between us. No, you two are not going together. Erica, move away and join someone else, and don’t give me that look” She said, and the hunters began to organise themselves, the girls partnering up before gathering around one of the many maps of Olympus that Chiron possessed. The man himself gave Annabeth a warm smile. 

“Night Owl, how are you doing?” He asked. She shrugged.   
“Fine I guess; I’ll be better when my friends stop being crazy”   
“And how is Annabeth?”   
Ah, there’s Chiron’s way of saying ‘I know that was a lie now tell the truth’. Annabeth sighed.   
“She’s feeling a little betrayed. She stayed with someone last night though, she had a good time” 

And a good night’s sleep, though she doubted Chiron wanted to know about how Percy was the comfiest pillow ever. Did the museum even condone things like that? Like employee relationships? Looking at Hazel and Frank maybe not, but she would have to check. Wait, why was she checking? Its not like- she needed to stop overthinking things. 

“Good, I hope she knows she can stay with me if she needs to” Chiron said, and Annabeth nodded.   
“She does. Thanks”   
He smiled.   
“So” He said, clapping his hands together, grabbing Tyson and Typhoon’s attention (They were previously playing some sort of variation of rock paper scissors but with huge explosion noises and water jets) “I’m glad that is dealt with; otherwise we’d have another problem on our hands. Red Woman, you keep an eye on them okay? They’ve always liked you, and your charmspeak can stop any further quarrels” 

Red Woman nodded and left the office. After a moment, Leo and Calypso left too, Leo telling her that she could stay with him until she found somewhere she wanted to live. Annabeth bid her chances of winning the bet goodbye.   
“Tyson, its good to see you” Chiron greeted, and Tyson beamed.   
“You too! I love being back!”   
Annabeth wondered how he could be so excited about everything, but maybe Tyson was just a generally cheerful person. Or maybe that was his only emotion. Did Cyclops have more than one emotion? 

“Typhoon, I trust you’ll be supplying him with somewhere to stay?” Chiron asked, and Percy nodded.   
“Yes sir, my brother will stick with me” He confirmed, throwing an arm around Tyson’s shoulders.   
“Yes! I like staying with you”   
“Good, because you don’t have any other choice” Typhoon laughed.   
As Annabeth chuckled at the pair, Chiron’s phone buzzed, and he picked it up. Almost immediately Annabeth was on edge, because Chiron had paled considerably, his grip on the phone tightening. Annabeth, Typhoon and Tyson waited anxiously as the call went on, Chiron simply listening, before he put the phone down.   
“Who was that?”   
“What did they want?”   
“What’s wrong?”   
“Was it Thalia?”   
“Has something happened?” 

Chiron raised a hand and Annabeth shut her mouth immediately, and he sighed heavily.   
“The infirmary has been taken by Luke and Huntress. Mrs Jackson is a hostage. They say if we don’t bring them Night Owl, they’ll kill her”   
Tyson let out a roar like an angry bull and the water cooler down the hall exploded, Typhoon dragging the water to him and using it to raise him up on a miniature hurricane. 

 

“We’re going to save her. And you’re coming too” He ordered, giving Annabeth a firm look.   
“As if you’d keep me away” She replied, and his face softened a little, before he disappeared down the hall. Annabeth went to follow, before Chiron’s hand landed on her arm.   
“Be careful Annabeth. Luke and Thalia play a dangerous game; I don’t want to see you hurt”   
“They’ve gone too far Chiron, I’m gonna do whatever it takes to stop them” She promised. His eyes were unreadable, so old and searching. 

“Even if it means hurting them?” He asked quietly. Annabeth thought for a moment, before clenching her jaw. The life of a hero was never easy. She knew that from a young age. You had to make choices that seemed impossible. You had to make sacrifices for the safety of the people.   
“Even if it means losing them completely” She told him. He pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, and then let her go, giving her one swift nod.   
“Go, Annabeth. Do what you have to”   
And Annabeth did.


	10. Chapter 10

Percy expected to arrive at the infirmary to find it surrounded by people. He expected fire, shouting, cameras, all the usual things that came with chaos.

But the shop front that hid his mother’s infirmary away was very ordinary looking. The only odd thing about it was that the shop itself was shut. His Mom never shut the shop. But there were no flames bursting out of the windows, no people screaming to get help. There were just a few disappointed children passing the shop by when they realised it was closed. 

“Should we sneak in?” Night Owl asked, looking up at the windows above the shop that might be open.   
“I hate sneaking” Tyson pouted, and Percy understood that. The guy was like a bull in a china shop even when he was trying to be gentle. No wonder Chiron didn’t want him working the museum.   
“Well, you can be our distraction. You burst in, we sneak” Night Owl told him, and Tyson nodded, clapping his hands.   
“I like that plan!” 

“Right, can we get on with it? My Mom is in there and I don’t want her near Luke for any more time than she already has been” Percy growled. His Mom was not a piece in whatever game Luke was playing with Night Owl. Percy wouldn’t let them hurt her. Annabeth gave him a suspicious look, as if he'd let something slip, but he didn't care. Not when his Mom was in danger.

Percy went first, jetting up to a window his Mom always left unlocked for him and pushed it open, squeezing inside silently. Night Owl followed, breezing into the room and looking around. Percy pointed to the landing, the Infirmary entrance across the hall. Night Owl nodded. 

 

Tyson was good at breaking in. Percy heard a shattering of glass from below before he thundered up the stairs, bellowing curse words loudly. Night Owl grabbed Percy and flew up to the ceiling out of sight as Thalia appeared to fight him off, hiding them both from her.  
“I’d make an inappropriate joke about this, but I’m not really in the mood” Percy muttered, and Night Owl fixed her orange eyes on him.   
“And I’d punch you for it, but I don’t feel like it either” She replied, and he smiled a little. Tyson had thrown Thalia down the stairs and Luke had emerged to see what was going on, attacking Tyson as he went to give Thalia another injury. Night Owl tossed Percy across the hall quickly, right through the other door into the infirmary, and she kept lookout. 

 

“Mom” Percy breathed, spotting his mother tied up in a chair, surrounded by some sort of shield that glowed a faint blue.   
“Percy” She replied weakly “Go”   
“What did they do to you?” He asked angrily, reaching out to touch the light around her. She had a bleeding cut on her forehead, and Percy knew she’d fought with everything she had when Thalia and Luke came for her.   
“Don’t, honey just don’t. This thing drains you. It’ll kill me”   
“I won’t let them kill you Mom, no way. Just sit tight, I’m gonna get you out” Percy promised. She smiled.   
“Get yourself out. And take Night Owl with you. Don’t get hurt trying to save me” 

“We need you Mom. If you think I’m just going to leave you behind then you have another thing coming” Percy told her sternly.   
“Worth a shot” She muttered. He grinned. His Mom should know by now that when it came to her there was nothing she could say that would get him to stop. He may listen to everything she said usually, but this was one area that her advice would not be listened to. He knew not to touch the light, instead trying to find a weak spot or something in his Mom’s supply closets that would get rid of it.   
“Here, I got this” Night Owl called quietly from the door, swooping in and grabbing a few bottles from the closet.   
“Thanks” Percy said.   
“No problem seaweed brain, now keep a lookout for me” She replied, and Percy stared at her for a moment. Seaweed brain. Only one person had called him that, and that was only what, yesterday? Night Owl and Annabeth were good friends… or maybe they were closer than that. 

As in, they were the same person closer. 

“Typhoon we don’t have time for you to zone out, go!” Night Owl called, and now Percy had thought about it she did sound a lot like Annabeth, she just didn’t look like her because of all the feathers and the owl eyes and the near-constant murderous expression she wore. Percy nodded and headed for the door, and as an extra precaution he had a large volume of water fill the doorway completely and freeze over, creating a thick, crystal clear blockage between his Mom and the pair that took her. 

 

Tyson had been holding up pretty good, but he was being worn out by Luke and Thalia’s double-team tactics. Luke’s golden mask had fallen off during the fight and he had a thick, ugly scar down his face, from his eye to his mouth.   
“Courtesy of Night Owl” He growled, once he caught Percy staring at him. Percy summoned a huge wave of water and threw it down the stairs, knowing that Tyson could handle the force of it. Thalia and Luke were completely submerged, and were deposited in the middle of the shop floor, soaked and heaving up water. Tyson ran up the stairs and grinned. His glasses were missing, no longer hiding the single eye on his head, but he didn’t seem to mind.   
“Good job brother!” He congratulated, before looking around “Where’s the pretty birdy?”   
“She’s in there” Percy told him, pointing through the ice to where he could see Night Owl working on getting rid of the energy-sapping light around his Mom.   
“Good, she’s safe. What do we do with- where did they go?” Tyson asked, looking down the stairs with a frown, as they could no longer see Thalia or Luke.   
“Sneaky mother-"

 

And then came the fire. Percy thought he should be a seer, since he’d assumed there’d be fire before he even went inside, but he hadn’t planned to actually be inside when the fire started. Tyson panicked, backing up against the ice as the flames licked at the bottom of the staircase. Luke and Thalia walked up the stairs calmly, Luke smiling evilly, Thalia looking uneasy. 

“I always wondered what happened to a fish if you set it on fire” Luke said, and Percy raised an eyebrow.   
“That’s a little weird, dude” He said, trying to keep casual when really the fire made him want to jump out of the nearest window. He hated the dry heat of fire, the uncontrollable part of it that destroyed forests and choked people. Water could be just as bad, just as dangerous, but water couldn’t bring a house down if someone left the oven running. It couldn’t kill hundreds of people if the wind blew just slightly when it was real hot.   
“Oh I don’t think it is. I think we should find out what happens to you if we turn up the heat a little” He said.   
“I’ll get a wicked tan and you’ll get a black eye, how’s that?” Percy spat, but he too was backing up toward the ice block, and then across the hall when the fire went there first. Night Owl had freed his Mom, and both women were hitting their fists on the ice, yelling. He could hear muffled words, and Luke laughed. 

“You know, for someone with no powers, its surprisingly easy to make magic you know. That room cannot be entered or exited unless they use the door. And what did you do, Typhoon? You blocked it” Luke crooned, patting the ice and pulling simpering faces at the two women on the other side. Percy could see his Mom using every bad word she knew and Night Owl threatening to kill Luke when she could reach him. 

“Luke, you promised nobody would get hurt” Thalia said, putting a hand on his arm “We can get Night Owl and go”   
“Yeah, because we’ll let that happen” Percy told her, and she glared at him.   
Night Owl was now kicking at the ice, making small fractures, and Percy raised his arms to shatter it himself.   
“Don’t you dare!” Luke snarled, putting a blade at this throat. Percy paused.   
“You’re insane, did you know that? You’ll just get us all killed” He said, and Luke sneered.   
“No, it’ll just get you killed. I have a way out. I’ll be taking Night Owl, and by tomorrow you’ll have Kronos to deal with”   
“Man, do you really have to go that far? I mean dude, I get that you’re mad about your Mom; I’d be mad if that happened to mine too, but the Gods warned her that getting powers isn’t easy. She knew the risks, and it went wrong. Are you gonna punish everyone for a mistake like that?” Percy asked him. Thalia looked to him silently, and he lifted his chin.   
“You don’t understand” He said haughtily, and removed his sword from Percy’s throat “Now, get rid of the ice” 

Percy kept an eye on the fire that was now dancing around the landing, rising up the walls and suddenly making a lot more noise than he knew flames could make. Like rushing wind, or blood in his ears. The air was too thin now, too, and Tyson had his huge hands over his mouth. Percy’s Mom and Night Owl were banging on the ice a little more desperately now too, as the fire had creeped into their room, the ice only blocking Luke, and not the flames.

“Get rid of the ice” Luke repeated dangerously, taking a step toward Percy. Thalia had a piece of cloth tied around her mouth and nose and she pulled Luke back.   
“Call off this crazy plan of yours” Percy replied.   
“No! Get rid of the ice!”   
“Not if you don’t-   
“GET RID OF THE ICE, PERCY JACKSON!” 

 

Luke’s eyes flashed gold, the voice that came from his mouth wasn’t in fact his, but a deeper, more powerful voice that made Percy feel like someone was running blades across his spine. Percy took a step back, and Thalia shook Luke by his shoulders. 

“Don’t you get it, Jackson? If he doesn’t wake Kronos up- Kronos will take him instead. Take his body instead of his Titan one. Get rid of the ice” She ordered. Night Owl had stopped in her attempt to break the ice, holding up Percy’s Mom, who’d collapsed from the smoke, staring at Luke in shock. Her eyes met Percy’s, and she pointed down. She mouthed ‘water’. 

 

Percy had always had a sixth sense for water. Usually he could just summon it from thin air, but he always knew where water was. He knew how many miles he was from the sea at any given moment, he knew where all the pipes carrying water were in city like veins beneath the skin; and he knew that below the floors of his mother’s infirmary, there was a massive water main just waiting to be tapped into. He thrust his arm out and the ice shattered, and Luke and Thalia believed for a second that he was allowing them to take Night Owl and go; until they heard the rumbling. 

“What- Jackson, what are you doing?” Luke demanded, clinging to Thalia as the rumbling only increased. Percy was breathing deeply, not caring that the air was thick with smoke and the fire was at his feet. He didn’t care about the warning that his father gave him years ago about messing with tonnes of water. 

“Seaweed brain” Night Owl breathed, and Percy gave her a warning look before he let his power out. It was sort of like an explosion he guessed; starting with him and just sort of rippling outward. The water suddenly surrounded everything, dousing the fire and rising, blasting out of every crevice in the building until the pressure was too much and it punched its way out instead, creating new holes in the walls and the roof and the floors to escape from. Percy could feel every drop of water in the city; every water tower, every puddle left over from the rain, every small pond or lake or bathtub full of it. He knew he was powerful; he knew his dad had given him gifts that made others weary of him. But he only truly realised it when he could make buildings explode just from raising his arms a few inches. 

When Percy’s energy faded he was sure he was flying- or falling, but it was hard to tell since the water he’d been lifting was also falling so he didn’t quite know where he was.   
“Don’t worry Seaweed Brain, I gotcha” A familiar voice said, and Percy grinned.   
“That was awesome” He said.   
“Sure was, except you kinda broke every water tower and bathtub in the city”   
“Pft, worth it”   
Night Owl chuckled, and continued flying. 

“Where’s my Mom?” He asked weakly.   
“Tyson has her. We’re taking her to Praetor, since she has her own little supply of ambrosia”   
That was true; Percy was sure Praetor had her own league of heroes, but he never asked since she’d likely stab him for questioning her. Still, she seemed like the type to build her own little army in case someone went rogue or something. Percy just relaxed as Night Owl flew him across the city, wondering if he went rogue, would an army would be enough to keep him at bay?


	11. Chapter 11

“Oh my boy” Mrs Jackson said weakly, sitting on the edge of Percy’s bed and stroking his cheek where his mask didn’t cover him. Annabeth stood nearby, beside Praetor, thinking rapidly. Luke was Kronos. Percy was Typhoon. Annabeth was screwed. And Thalia? Thalia was caught in the middle of it. It had been two days since the blast- two days for Luke and Thalia to come up with another crazy scheme to cause Chaos. Two days since Percy lost consciousness in her arms and didn’t respond to her calling him. 

“Mrs Jackson Typhoon; I have my best healers on it” Praetor reported, looking as regal as ever, stood in her polished armour without a single plume out of place on her helmet. Stood next to her, Annabeth looked more than a little rough. Her feathers were charred even worse than before, her skin burned and bruised from punching the ice wall and she could feel how the smoke in her lungs made her feel all heavy and slow, still lingering even after extremely good medical attention. Just as suspected, Praetor had her own secret army; she owned a huge villa just outside of the city, which could house hundreds of people- more like a giant Roman palace really, and it was full of soldiers armed to the teeth with golden weapons that would make the museum rich if it had them. 

“The twelfth legion of Rome is bound to secrecy; not even the first team knew it was here. Men and Women come to me from across the globe, and they train to fight. Some have powers, some don’t; but you’ll never find a more worthy group of soldiers”   
“Why haven’t they helped? They could bring Luke with us” Annabeth asked. Praeor’s expression didn’t change.   
“Because this isn’t their problem. I told them to stay out of the way until I decided the problem was going to bother us- I won’t send my soldiers into a war that will get them killed” She said, and Annabeth growled.   
“You saw what they did to Leo and Typhoon and Oracle” She guessed, and Praetor nodded.   
“Three people with extraordinary powers. If Luke Castellan can hurt them, what will he do to men and women with only swords and shields to their names?”   
“They could do something else” Annabeth suggested. 

“Oh? Like what? What can my soldiers do for a big shot like you?” Praetor replied icily. She always had that snappy tone when it came to Annabeth- mostly because as Night Owl she’d refused to have Praetor as her partner. It wasn’t a personal thing, she wanted to work alone- but it didn’t help that Typhoon came along and she’d gained one anyway. Praetor had been cold to her since. 

“Every one of our parents had a seat of power; a place, an object- something that they used to anchor their powers. Gaea destroyed the First team’s and they became sitting ducks”   
“And you think Kronos has one?” Praetor asked, with a disbelieving tone. It was crazy, but Annabeth had read up on Greek Legends that the first team had based themselves off; that Gaea and even Kronos matched up to. They’d given themselves those names depending on what powers they possessed; they had no other names like Annabeth and their children had. Kronos was like the first team; he was sure to have some sort of anchor like them.   
“I’m sure he does. All we have to do is find it” She confirmed.   
“How do we do that?” 

“We research. Before the first team, before Hypnos put Kronos to sleep he must have had somewhere as his base; that will be where it is. Think, Praetor. Where does no one dare to go, even now, because of Kronos? Your soldiers will take it down” 

 

Praetor looked thoughtful under her golden helmet, a strand of dark hair falling loose across her forehead. Did Annabeth know her too? Did she know everyone that she worked with every night? She was beginning to find that pieces previously impossible to place were now falling together, and the result was worrying, because of how painfully obvious it was. How it wasn’t a coincidence that she and Leo worked in the same place; but a pattern. 

“When we find it, you have my word that we will destroy it. But you have to keep up your side and stop Luke and Thalia. No doubt they know where this place is and have it guarded”

 

Annabeth nodded, and turned back to Typhoon and Mrs Jackson. Sally was watching them quietly, keeping a soothing hand on her son’s cheek, and Annabeth gave her a small smile of reassurance. No doubt she would be worrying about her child and about the danger that was getting ever more insistent every passing moment.   
“You better be careful, girls; I don’t want any of you getting too hurt” She said, always so caring to them even if they weren’t her children. Since her mother died Mrs Jackson was a God-send to Annabeth, and now she knew who she really was she was only more comforting to be around. 

“Don’t worry Sally, Praetor here is very good at what she does; and you know I’m a tough one to kill” She promised, and Sally smiled.   
“I know Night Owl- but so is my son, and look at him now” 

Annabeth did agree that Percy didn’t look so good. Since Praetor didn’t know who he was and she was stubborn about the whole ‘secret Identity’ rule, his mask had stayed on, but from what was visible of his face he had gone too far with the water powers. Annabeth had never seen such raw power before- Poseidon was always very graceful with the water, only using exact movements and never wavering with his control. Percy, however- it was chaotic, unconcentrated. He’d just tapped into his gifts and let them go. Annabeth had been terrified when the building collapsed around them and water pummelled everything to the ground, always knowing that Typhoon was strong but to this extent? She was surprised. 

 

He seemed to be paying the price for his actions though. His cheeks were very pale, his breathing was uneven like he was in a restless sleep and he had a fever; the healers had only just kept it under control. Praetor left, sweeping out of the room with purpose, and Annabeth crept closer to Percy’s bed.   
“I didn’t quite catch on until Luke-Kronos said his name” Annabeth said quietly “I underestimated him”   
“He has that problem a lot; he got his father’s inconspicuous looks- pretty, but innocent” Sally agreed, gently pulling Percy’s mask away, revealing his dark, messy hair and naturally mischievous features. Now that Annabeth looked- really, really looked- she could see the sea in him; she could see Poseidon, though the first Hero always hid his face too. Annabeth had seen his face from the Pictures in Percy’s bedroom, and they looked very alike. He smelled like the sea too, and only now did it occur to Annabeth that all these things should have fallen into place earlier. 

“You know, sometimes I can see exactly what you’re thinking” Sally said, and Annabeth looked to her, confused. She’d been told she was tough to figure out- now she was just confused.   
“What do you mean?” She asked curiously. Sally smiled her warm smile.   
“You’re wondering how you didn’t know sooner- but there’s a lot you don’t know until someone mentions it. You remind me of your mother most of the time, but there’s a lot of your father in you too- you think you should figure it all out before you have all the answers. Maybe that’s why you two don’t get along; you spend more time trying to figure each other out then you do actually getting to know each other” 

“You’re very smart, Mrs Jackson” Annabeth muttered, and that surprised her; she was used to snapping when someone tried to talk about her parents. Like they were butting into her business, or trying to manipulate her with information. But Sally wasn’t like that- Annabeth began to wonder if most of the people around her were just trying to help too. 

“I know you, Night Owl. Even though you don’t like people knowing about you. Not everyone is out to get you, you know. I know it seems like Percy is when he comes along trying to be the hero, but he’d never do anything to hurt you- he is incredibly loyal to his friends” 

Annabeth sighed, looking down at Percy and realising he was in that bed because he wouldn’t let Luke take her with him. He could’ve handed her over and he and his mother and Tyson could’ve left, but he didn’t; and Annabeth couldn’t figure out why. 

“Why does he think of me as a friend, Mrs Jackson? I’ve been so horrible to him” She asked, and Sally chuckled.   
“He’s determined to help you Honey, he was in the same position as you when the first team fell. He cares about you a lot; as a hero, and as Annabeth” She said softly.   
“I just- I just wanted to be as good as Mom. I wanted to save everyone, but to do that-"   
“No one was allowed to get close, because no one was allowed to save you. I understand, Annabeth; I loved a hero, and its hard when you try to lead two lives, sometimes they get mixed up. You are just so stubborn that you won’t let anybody help you set them straight. You’ve been trying to juggle it for three years- I think its time to let go, don’t you? We miss the old Annabeth as much as you miss your mother” 

Annabeth felt like something had just shattered around her; like someone had come into her room one morning and opened the window, letting the bright light in and waking her like her father used to do when she was really little. She burst into tears, and Mrs Jackson had swept around the bed to her side in seconds; scooping her up like she was a child and rocking her gently. It reminded her of the coffee shop and Percy comforting her; that safe little bubble that she was in that day, away from her problems as long as she was with him and his stupid grin. 

“There now- I bet you feel two tonnes lighter now, don’t you?” Sally asked, and Annabeth nodded, hugging her tight and letting it out. She felt like all the walls were crumbling, all that armour she’d made for herself was getting a little too heavy now and she could take it off. She didn’t realise she was talking until she’d finished- telling Mrs Jackson about being worried about Thalia-and Luke, because how had Kronos controlled him like that?- worried about the museum since half its employees were missing, worried about Percy because he was an idiot and decided to flood a building rather than just let her go- talking suddenly seemed so easy when before it was her worst nightmare. Mrs Jackson listened, straightening the feathers on Annabeth’s head the way a mother would smooth her child’s hair, gentle and soothing. 

“You’re very smart Annabeth, I know you’ll figure out a way to solve this- and you have a team of heroes, hunters, a Cyclops and a secret Roman army to help you out” Sally laughed, and Annabeth smiled.   
“Sounds a lot easier when you put it that way” She mumbled. Sally wiped her tears.   
“That’s because you were always thinking of it as ‘I have to solve this problem on my own and all these people are in the way’. You’re never on your own in this honey, even if it felt like it when Thalia and Luke were the ones against you”   
“Thank you, Mrs Jackson”   
“Its quite alright. Now; I’m going to go and demand to know what these healers are playing at since they haven’t appeared since last time; look after my boy whilst I’m gone?” 

 

Annabeth nodded and Sally got up, giving her a warm, motherly smile before disappearing out of the door. Annabeth turned to Percy; once more, he was drooling in his sleep, and she picked up the small tub of ambrosia that Sally managed to salvage from the infirmary before Tyson brought her here. She had been feeding Percy a little at a time, so Annabeth continued, hoping that maybe it would bring his fever down even if it was a little damaged in the heat of the fire. She relaxed in the quiet of the room; it was warm, far away from the chaos of Olympus despite Annabeth being able to see the town from the window. Percy mumbled a little after swallowing three spoonfulls of ambrosia, so hopefully it wasn’t useless after being in a fire and then a flood. Annabeth thought that Percy had gained some colour in his cheeks, which was reassuring; he looked like he was only sleeping then. Just like when Annabeth was sleeping next to him, with his hair sticking up everywhere, limbs loose and relaxed, though they were laying on the bed now instead of wrapped around her. 

 

It took two healers coming and going and a man covered in eyeballs to bring in food before Percy stirred. Annabeth was still a little shaken from the man smiling at her, only for his tongue and teeth to have eyeballs on them too, to notice that Percy was conscious at first. 

“Hey, where am I? Night Owl?” Percy asked suddenly, and Annabeth turned, relief flooding her; she didn’t realise how anxious she had been these past few days until he was awake.   
“You drool in your sleep” She blurted, and he frowned, wiping his mouth subconsciously.   
“Thanks” He muttered, looking like a kicked puppy.   
“Crap, sorry, that just- came out. Are you alright?” She asked, and He shrugged.   
“Do I still have all my arms and legs?” He asked.   
“Yes”   
“Am I bald?”   
“No”   
“Has my skin changed colour?”   
I think you’re a little more tanned” Annabeth joked. He grinned.   
“Then I think I’m okay, don’t you?” He asked. She rolled her eyes.   
“Of course. Though you’re a little gross from having a fever and being in a fire and stuff” She told him, and he pushed himself up onto his elbows, moving his legs experimentally under the white sheet that he’d been tucked under. 

“Wait, where’s my…?” He wondered, feeling his head for the mask that he usually wore. Annabeth pulled at it, where it was attached to the back of his suit. He looked at her with wide green eyes.   
“So you- you can see me”   
“Well duh, seaweed brain, unless you’re invisible, which I don’t think you are”   
“Why do you call me that? Annabeth calls me that” Percy said. Annabeth smiled.   
“I am Annabeth, idiot” She told him. He frowned in confusion, a cute little crease appearing on his forehead.   
“You- but-   
Annabeth just waited for it to sink in for him, watching him in amusement as he thought it through. 

“Prove it” He said, and she saw that one coming, mentally preparing herself for showing him her face. It was something she’d promised never to do for anyone- the point of having the feathers was so that no one knew who she was. But, it was time to let that go. She let the feathers disappear, her curly blonde hair falling down over her shoulders, her eyes fading to grey, the feathers vanishing from her face until she was just Annabeth again; and just Percy faced her, watching her in awe. 

“That was awesome- I assumed it was a wig or something” He said, and she chuckled.   
“A wig made of feathers?” She asked, and he shrugged, smiling.   
“You never know with heroes, they do anything to keep their identities a secret”   
“And yet here we are” 

Percy was quiet for a moment, smiling to himself, before he raised an eyebrow.   
“You seem different, Wise girl- you’re not biting my head off” He said. Annabeth shrugged.   
“Me and your Mom had a talk. She made me realise that pushing everyone away wasn’t gonna help”   
“My Mom is amazing” Percy said, and Annabeth laughed.   
“That she is. So, did you know about the big Roman army that Praetor was running under our noses?” She asked. Percy shook his head.   
“This is the first I’m hearing of it, though I had a suspicion that she had some sort of secret weapon to use if she needed it. Always so paranoid- but the Praetor is smart”   
Annabeth agreed with that. Having a personal army could solve a lot of problems down the line; maybe Annabeth should invest in that. 

 

But for now she just had herself, a team of heroes, a Cyclops and half a group of hunters on her side; and in her personal opinion, Annabeth thought it was more than enough to bring the bad guys down.


	12. Chapter 12

Percy thought he was dreaming when he woke up to find Night Owl spoon feeding him ambrosia, like a weird fantasy that he would never admit to having before this moment- he’d take that secret to the grave. He thought the world had gone mad when it turned out that Night Owl was actually Annabeth under all those feathers, and his Mom had somehow made her open up and she was smiling and making jokes that didn’t deflate his ego for once. When Annabeth put her feathers back on and left, exiting the room with a witty remark and an unspoken promise to return later, Percy pulled out his cell phone (it had miraculously survived his giant water fountain trick, though his phone had survived quite a lot of stuff, so Percy just let it be) and called Grover, who had seen the blast on the news and was frantic when he picked up. 

“Percy! You’re alive! Where the hell are you? It’s been two days! How’s your Mom? Is Tyson with you? Where’s Night Owl? Who-   
“Grover, calm down, everyone is fine- we’re at the Praetor’s place. Is everything good in Olympus?” He asked. Grover sighed. 

“Well apart from you breaking everyone’s plumbing system the public is good and well shaken. Nico has taped off the infirmary and his squad are taking over the hero stuff for you guys, people are putting up messages for you and Night Owl. Oh, and Chiron says that the hunters are working together and have decided to track Thalia down, try to get her back on our side. I think her and Luke kidnapping your Mom made them rethink helping them. Oh Oh! And Leo and that Calypso girl have become the faces of the team; they’ve done loads of press conferences and interviews-"   
“Who the HELL let Leo on the TV?!” Percy cried, believing that Leo speaking for them would only cause trouble.   
“Calm down, he’s actually doing a great job, though I think that’s Calypso’s doing. Everyone loves them and are rallying behind you all. Though if they’d stop flirting through the interviews, that would be great- the Press are having a field day” Grover reported and Percy relaxed, slumping back into the pillows in relief. Thank the Gods for Calypso- if not for her Percy had no doubt that Leo would have screwed it up, singing ‘girl on fire’ and wearing mad hats for pictures. He would’ve found it funny, but he doubted the public would’ve felt safe with a dude in a funny hat telling them that he and his friends were handling the two villains threatening the city. 

“Right. Well I think An- Night Owl has some sort of plan on how we’re gonna tackle Luke and Thalia, so coming home might be delayed a little”   
“Well, if Night Owl actually tells you the plan and lets you help that is” Grover snorted, but Percy smiled, thinking about how Annabeth was when he woke up. How different she was.   
“Something tells me she might this time, she’s opened up a little lately. If you wanna help, your pipes are where you left them” Percy tempted, and Grover groaned.   
“Dude, how many times do I have to tell you?!” He cried, and Percy laughed, hearing someone else laugh on Grover’s end of the line.   
“Yeah yeah, you’re retired. Hey Juniper, think you can convince him?” He called, and Grover tutted.   
“I might” Juniper’s voice said “But if he goes, I’m going too”   
“We’d love your help” Percy smiled, loving the sound of Grover’s distress since his fiancée was teaming up with his best friend over him. Ah, finally Grover might come out of retirement and kick some ass like he was born to. Percy couldn’t wait. 

“I hate you guys” He grumbled.   
“Tell that to the engagement ring on my finger” Juniper sung.   
“And tell that to our matching shirts” Percy added.   
“I’m burning that shirt”   
“Yeah right”   
“I will! You’ll come home and it’ll be gone!”   
“We’ll share”   
“I’ll burn both!”   
“Dude, I can just buy two more” Percy said.   
“I’ll burn those too”   
“Boys, stop it, you love those shirts!” Juniper laughed, and Grover made a sulky noise.   
“I know I do. Now, I’m going to go and find out exactly what Praetor has hidden away here, and you can find your pipes and stuff- bye G-man!”   
“Percy for-“   
But Percy hung up, refusing to let Grover have the last word; he was going to help, whether he liked it or not. 

 

“Oh. My. Gods” Percy breathed, after finally managing to stand up without his legs giving way and making it out of the room. He emerged onto a balcony that ran around a courtyard, a beautiful fountain below him in the centre and several wooden dummies that young men and women were attacking with golden swords in pristine condition. It was so very Roman, it was like he’d gone back in time, stood in one of those villas that the rich and the powerful owned. He used the railing to walk, as he seemed to have weak knees after being knocked out for two days, making it to the stairs and descending. The doorway inside from the courtyard led to an open inside, full of drapes and couches and a huge pool full of hot water; a Roman bath, right in the middle of the room. Percy stopped at the water for a moment, as water gave him strength, and put his hand in the bath, feeling energy seep into him suddenly and refresh him. 

“You’ll need a Roman bath, Typhoon; you don’t smell the nicest” A voice said, and Percy turned to find Praetor lounging on one of the couches, behind an almost transparent pink drape, eating grapes from a bowl and writing on a notepad. He was glad he’d put his mask back on; he was not comfortable with her knowing who he was, as he had a feeling she would plot every way to defeat him in case he ever got in her way. She probably already could, so Percy decided he would be as nice as possible so she had no reason to get rid of him. 

“Isn’t it a little weird, having a bath in the middle of your lounge?” He asked curiously, and she smiled. It wasn’t a warm smile like his Mom’s, or teasing like Annabeth’s; she smiled at him like he was a dog that had tried to do a neat trick but fell over its own paws.   
“Isn’t it weird to hang around with heroes in a city dedicated to Greece and Rome and not remember that Romans often had baths like this in their homes? Well, the rich ones do, anyway” She replied. 

“Touché. So, do people bath in here even when the room isn’t empty?”   
“My soldiers do; they’re comfortable around each other. Some guests do, if they’re brave. And others would bath in a room filled with people, as they believe that they have the body for it” Praetor shrugged, and looked to him “Which one are you?”   
“Uh, depends who’s watching I think” He said, removing his hand from the water and getting up. Praetor looked almost predatory, or maybe the drape was making it seem like that, but Percy honestly didn’t want to get closer and find out. 

“You don’t seem so confident now Typhoon, even so close to the water. All I’m offering you is a bath” She said innocently, but Percy knew it wasn’t just a bath. He didn’t quite know what else she was offering, but he knew a bath wouldn’t be all that he was getting.   
“Maybe I’ll have one later. At night. Alone” He said, and Praetor raised an eyebrow under her helmet.   
“That’s not very Roman of you” She said, getting up and approaching him at her own pace, knowing that she ruled this conversation. Percy was honestly confused; what the hell was happening right now? Was Praetor playing some sort of game? Why was he so bad at reading women? 

“Uh, I’m not Roman” He said. She smirked.   
“You’re in my house. When in Rome…you know the saying” She said, getting ever closer, and Percy stepped back, because the woman was terrifying from far away, he certainly wasn’t going to be any braver when she was close. 

“What do you want from me, Praetor?” He asked, taking another step back as she stepped forward. She was stood on the very edge of the bath, looking smug, whilst he stood on the water, having it become dense beneath his feet and hold him up. It was a little humiliating that he’d backed up this far and not stood his ground, but it was too late now. She couldn’t come any closer. 

“I want to see how you tick. I want your pressure points, your fears, your fatal flaw” She told him, and he frowned.   
“Why?” He asked.   
“Because I didn’t do this to Thalia Grace, and now she’s on my enemies’ side. If you knew that I knew exactly which string to pull to make you dance, you would never oppose me. You would never go against me” She explained, and Percy tutted.   
“I’d also never go against you if you didn’t have me stood in a pool and left to wonder what the hell your intimidation tactics are” He replied. She rolled her eyes.   
“You’re very dim, Typhoon. I know you want Night Owl, so I push it because I know you’re uncomfortable with it. Its not hard to figure out. Becoming friends with someone won’t stop them betraying you- hasn’t Night Owl taught you that?”   
“You don’t trust anyone, do you? Your alliances and friendships are built on intimidation and blackmail” Percy guessed.   
“Because I have a lot to lose”   
“And you lost a lot” Percy added. Praetor looked shocked.   
“You-"  
“You remind me of Night Owl a little. She’s only like that because she lost her Mom. Why are you so stubborn to let anyone in, huh? Who did you lose?” Percy asked, and it was his turn to step forward, back onto the edge of the pool and she took a step back. He thought he was getting somewhere, until Praetor slapped his cheek, hard, and walked away, purple cape billowing behind her. She stopped at the door, expression thunderous. 

“My sister. I lost my sister” 

And then she left. Percy stood still for a moment, revitalised from the water, before he turned to the next door, and walked away. He was surprised that Praetor would tell him such a thing, but then he doubted anyone ever questioned her back when she spoke to them; she had an air of authority that made people sit down and shut up when she entered a room. 

He found Annabeth in the next room, which also had a bath in it (why did the place need baths in every room? Percy didn’t understand) and she was sitting on one of the couches, reading through a book that was probably written in Latin.   
“Hey” He greeted, and she looked up, orange eyes wide and startled. He remembered Piper calling her a nerd- she’d been so engrossed in the text she hadn’t even heard him approach.   
“What are you doing here? You should be resting!” She scolded, and Percy rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t do resting. I met the master of the house; Praetor seriously scares me” He admitted, sitting down next to her and letting out a large sigh. Annabeth smiled a little.   
“She did that intimidation thing to me, too. You appear to have annoyed her though” She said, prodding at the cheek Praetor had slapped. Percy scowled.   
“I think she wanted me to have a bath” He said, and Annabeth raised an eyebrow “Though I don’t understand the beginning half of the conversation”   
“Well, you haven’t washed in two days” Annabeth reasoned, and then laughed when he gave her an offended expression.   
“I said I’d take one at night, though I really meant ‘I’ll take one when you’re not there’” He said, and Annabeth chuckled.   
“Good choice- I don’t think I’d want Praetor watching me in the bath either” She agreed. Percy laughed, heading for the bath in the centre of this room, finding it much warmer than the last one. He pulled off his shoes and socks and put his feet in the water, glad that he could finally submerge some part of him in the bath. He really just wanted to jump right in, but he could feel orange eyes staring a hole into his back. 

“Are you having one now?” She asked, and he shrugged.   
“No idea; anyone could just walk on by, which would be really weird and I doubt it would be fun. My suit is waterproof though; It does need a wash” Percy mused, looking at the tempting warm water around his feet. The bath looked deep, more like a pool really, which was the most inviting thing he’d seen since that one grilled cheese he made at three in the morning, which tasted even better than it looked. 

“Just get in seaweed brain, this room doesn’t lead anywhere so no one comes in; why do you think I decided to read in here?” Annabeth asked, sounding amused. Percy guessed that was fair enough and got in, sinking to the bottom before rising back up and shaking his head, making sure the water flew far enough to get Annabeth.   
“Really?” She asked, and he grinned.   
“Yep. Hey, if no one comes in here, why are you wearing your Night Owl disguise?” He asked.   
“You can never be too careful” She said. He rolled his eyes “Plus, you’re wearing your mask” 

Percy pulled it off and looked at her expectantly. She sighed and the feathers vanished, and Percy watched in amazement. Just seeing the transformation was incredibly cool, how the feathers seemed to just shift into hair, how they simply vanished from her face; he was happy to see her grey eyes again, and she smiled.   
“Why are you staring at me like that?” She asked.   
“Because you’re beautiful. Plus that transformation is pretty badass. You should use that one day, like when someone pushes into you in the street just flash the orange eyes at them” He told her, and she beamed.   
“I’ll do that” She said quietly “You know, you’re supposed to use the oil” 

“The what?” Percy asked, and Annabeth pointed to a ceramic bottle that sat on the edge of the bath, near the taps. Percy was sure that in ancient Rome they didn’t have indoor plumbing and brass taps, but it beats the alternative; he was sure it would take about three hundred bucket fulls of water to fill this bath. 

“Oh. What for?” He asked. Annabeth rolled her eyes and got up, picking up the bottle and sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bath. Percy swam over to her, and she poured some oil on his head, before putting the bottle down. There was a moment’s hesitation, and Percy was going to do it himself, before Annabeth reached over and ran her hands through his wet hair, rubbing the oil into his scalp.   
“Its made from berries mostly” She said, not noticing that Percy was now like putty in her hands- he loves people touching his hair, though he’d never admit it- her voice echoing around the room. Percy rested his chin on his arms on the edge of the bath, sighing in content.   
“It smells nice” He said.   
“That’ll be the rose petals. This would’ve been the finest shampoo in Roman times, used by the richer families. It’ll make your hair all soft and nice-smelling”   
“My hair is soft and nice smelling” Percy mumbled, and Annabeth chuckled.   
“Of course. You need to rinse” She said, and Percy sighed, pulling away from the edge and ducking under the water and shaking his head before coming back up. He was level with Annabeth’s knees, which were covered by her hero suit, and Percy grinned. It was waterproof. 

“Annabeth, I think you need a bath” He said, and Annabeth barely had time to ask what he was talking about before he’d grabbed her and pulled her in, submerging himself in the process so that they were both at the bottom of the bath. Annabeth began to kick off the bottom, cheeks puffed out and full of air, but Percy pulled her back, making a bubble at the bottom of the bath. Annabeth took a few steadying breaths. 

“That wasn’t funny Percy” She said, and Percy grinned.   
“It so was. Don’t get your feathers in a knot” He teased, holding onto her so she didn’t float back up to the surface. They were almost nose to nose, it was silent in the water, and Annabeth’s walls were down. Her hair floated around her head like mermaids in the movies, catching the light that managed to reach the bottom of the bath and shining like gold. She was smiling a little, and she reached out for him too, and they became that little bit closer until Percy couldn’t take it anymore.   
“Annabeth?” He asked “Can you tell what I’m thinking?”   
She nodded, her nose brushing his. He leaned in and kissed her gently, and she kissed back immediately, impatient and pressing as if saying ‘finally, what took you so long?’. Percy wasn’t going to be all sweet and gentle if she wasn’t, and he sure wasn’t going to let Annabeth have all the fun. 

And it was definitely the best underwater kiss of all time.


	13. Chapter 13

When Annabeth finally got out of the bath, her fingers had gone all crinkly from being in the water for too long. Percy was beaming, dry the second he heaved himself out of the bath, reaching for her and kissing her again, his powers making all the water return to the bath where it had come from and leaving her dry too. Annabeth found that she liked kissing Percy; she hadn’t kissed anyone for a while, and Percy didn’t kiss her like she was breakable, which she very much enjoyed. 

“Night Owl? Typhoon? Where are you both?” A voice called, and Annabeth pulled away, her feathers appearing automatically. Percy pulled the mask over his face and Leo poked his head around the door. He caught sight of them both and grinned.   
“What are you guys doing?” He asked.   
“I could ask the same about you and Calypso man; heard you two flirt all the way through your interviews” Percy replied, and Annabeth frowned.   
“Interviews? Someone let you be interviewed?” She asked, and Leo puffed out his chest.   
“you’re looking at the new face of the team! Answering questions, making us look good for the media…”   
“Gods help us” Annabeth muttered, and Percy snickered.   
“As long as you make me look the best, I’m cool with it. What are you doing here?” He asked.   
“Everyone is here. We still need to do something about Luke and Thalia; you’ve only been passed out two days you know”   
“Okay, we’re coming” Percy said, and Leo nodded, leading the way. Annabeth followed alongside Percy and he laced their fingers together, as if it was the most natural of things to do. She smiled to herself. 

 

Everyone was in the next room, sat on the couches hidden behind all the floaty drapes (Annabeth thought it was a nice look, but why did they need so many?) and they joined them, sitting in the space between Red Woman and Blue Spark. Red took one look at Percy and Annabeth’s joined hands and had a moment of flailing, waving her hands and looking ecstatic.   
“I knew it!” She cried “I called this! You all owe me ten bucks!”   
“You bet on us?” Annabeth asked, looking to Percy, who just looked a little confused. Thankfully it was a cute look on him, as she knew he was confused a lot.   
“Nah, we were…making predictions” Centurion said “Which meant that Oracle wasn’t allowed to play”   
“I know what you two did in that bath- saw it months ago” She said, and the group turned to grin at the pair. Annabeth scowled.   
“Thank you Rachel” She said, and the redhead blew her a kiss.   
“What did you do in the bath?!” Red demanded.   
“Red, I don’t think you want to know- Night Owl is blushing a little too much, don’t you think?” Shifter grinned.   
“Hey, I blush really easily!” She said defensively, crossing her arms. Percy chuckled next to her.   
“Its not so bad Wise Girl; they’re just jealous because they didn’t get any today” He said, looking mischievous.   
“But we didn’t- oh” She said, smiling in return “Yes, they’re all jealous” 

 

Red’s jaw had dropped and Centurion was fanning herself with her hand, like an old lady who heard something inappropriate. Annabeth giggled.   
“My Gods. Night Owl is laughing. Typhoon what the hell did you do to her?” Blue Spark asked. Percy patted his shoulder.   
“How about you and Red figure it out?” He asked, and Annabeth turned to smirk at Red woman, who was watching Blue with wide eyes. 

“Yeah, maybe you’ll make purple” She added, and the group snickered like children, whilst Blue Spark stuttered and Red just stared at Annabeth with an open mouth.   
“Who are you and what have you done with Night Owl?” She asked.   
“Nothing; if anything, she’s only just come back” Annabeth told her. 

“Right; lets get down to business- first things first if you two have done anything in that bath I’ll make you scrub it” Praetor announced, sitting herself down on a couch and looking sternly at Annabeth and Percy, who tried not to burst into giggles. Wow, Annabeth, giggling, had the world gone mad? She had forgotten how childish she could be when she wanted.   
“Now, Leo has told the public to keep away from Luke and Thalia, so hopefully we won’t have any problems with injured civilians. Night Owl we’ve found Kronos’ old base, on the other side of the city in the hills; he called it mount Othrys- my troops will march there” Praetor continued, and Annabeth nodded.   
“Right. Taking out Kronos’ base could weaken his power- so his hold on Luke will loosen and we can separate them”   
“Wait, Kronos has Luke?” Blue Spark asked.   
“He’s possessing him somehow, he talked through him that day we were in the infirmary. Thalia said that if Luke doesn’t wake Kronos, he’ll take his body instead” Percy explained. 

“Right, but I’m not sure Luke could handle that. Luke has no traces of powers in him, Kronos could kill him- we have to stop them before that happens. We need a surprise, powerful attack. Give them everything we’ve got. The hunters are tracking down Thalia to try and separate them, Nico has been keeping an eye on their movements for days-they’re closing in on them as we speak” Annabeth said, and Red Woman nodded. 

“Right, so we separate them- but what if Thalia doesn’t want to leave Luke? What then?” She asked. Annabeth set her jaw.   
“Then we fight her too. They’ve been doing some serious magic- Venti that have been gone for years? They’ve raised them. Monsters? They recruited them. Luke said, even with no powers magic was easy; we don’t know what they have up their sleeves” 

“I think we should make a storm” Percy said suddenly, and all eyes turned to him. He never made suggestions, since he joined the team he just went with what Annabeth and the others planned.   
“A storm? What do you mean?” Centurion asked, tilting her head.   
“I mean a huge storm; one that magic can’t stop. Blue Spark, Inferno, me- it would disorientate the monsters and everyone they rallied, we’ll have lightning and torrential rain and Leo and Blue can work together to make flaming tornadoes”   
“That’s…a pretty good idea Seaweed Brain” Annabeth told him, impressed. He smiled smugly.   
“I have those sometimes” He replied.   
“Okay, so a storm. I can shift into different monsters and attack from behind enemy lines” Shifter suggested, turning into a telkhine to prove his point.   
“If we draw them out into the empty lot just outside the city, its full of underground tunnels; I can collapse them and trap the monsters” Centurion added.   
“These are great ideas, but how are we gonna get them to the lot?” Leo asked.   
“Leave that to me; I’m a master at persuasion” Red grinned, and Annabeth nodded. 

“When are we doing this?” Praetor asked “It should be simultaneous attacks”   
“Tomorrow, noon” Annabeth said “They’ve been causing chaos for long enough, and they probably think Typhoon is still knocked out. Leo, you got an interview today?”   
“Tonight, actually; the ten o clock news wants, well, news”   
“Right; tell them that Typhoon is in a coma. Tell them that I am badly injured and that Tyson is missing- should be enough to convince them they have a good chance of winning if we challenge them”   
“Where is Tyson?” Blue Spark asked.   
“Playing with the pegasi- they quite enjoy his company” Praetor told him. Percy chuckled.   
“Typical. There’s a fight brewing and he’s playing with the ponies”   
“Let him be, at least he’s not breaking the busts of Roman emperors” Praetor said “My troops will march at nightfall to reach Mount Othrys in time; I suggest you all get a good night’s sleep” 

 

She glanced at Centurion, Shifter, Percy and Annabeth suspiciously, and the group giggled like children once more. Praetor left, probably glad to be done with them, and Annabeth heard her barking orders at her legionnaires.   
“Right. So that’s all planned out, and we have a few hours to kill- what do you guys wanna do?” Shifter asked, looking around at the group. Annabeth did the same, noticing that everyone looked comfortable; lounging on the couches, not up and chasing bad guys or worrying about an injured teammate for once. 

“We should just…talk” Annabeth suggested.   
“You, talk?” Leo snorted.   
“Yes, I do in fact use my vocal chords once in a while, Valdez. It beats wasting our energy when we could use it tomorrow” 

 

The group nodded in agreement, shuffling around to get more comfortable on the couches or on each other in certain cases, like shifter and centurion; Shifter turned into a black panther and lay on the floor and Centurion leaned against him like a cushion. Annabeth threw her legs across Percy’s and rested her head on his shoulder, liking that it was suddenly so easy to do and she didn’t have to over think it. 

“You know, sometimes I wonder whether I like being a hero you know” Centurion said to the ceiling “I mean, sure you’re famous, and you keep people safe, but your real life suffers. It’s a little empty because you’re always busy, and people assume you’re boring and you can’t tell them that you’re not because it would blow your cover”   
“It does suck sometimes” Annabeth agreed “But you just have to find something- or someone- that’ll make it suck a little less”   
“I know who Shifter really is. And he knows me too” Centurion said softly, running a hand through Shifter’s soft black fur. He purred and she smiled.   
“And you all know me” Leo grinned, sat with Rachel lay across him, who agreed mildly.  
“I think we all know each other” Annabeth said, and the team looked to her curiously.   
“What do you mean?” Red asked.   
“Well, I found out Leo’s identity, and Typhoon’s, and Rachel’s- we all work together. In the museum” 

A look of realisation dawned on the group’s faces, and Annabeth knew her suspicions were right.   
“Oh my Gods. Chiron hired us all without us knowing to keep an eye on us” Blue said, and Annabeth nodded.   
“Guys; should we…exchange identities? If we all already know each other, there’s no real harm in it, right?” Centurion asked.   
“Yeah, and now I’m real curious, since you guys know me and I don’t know you” Leo added.   
“Right, okay. I’ll go first then, shall I?” Centurion said, and pulled off her expensive looking helmet, revealing curly hair and gold eyes.   
“Hazel!” Red cried, and Hazel smiled.   
“Yup, I’m Hazel, ergo Centurion. Shifter, you wanna go next?” She asked. The panther turned human again and pulled down his hood.   
“Frank Zhang. Well I’ll be. Though the minute I saw Hazel I knew it would be you” Blue said with a grin. Frank smiled and put an arm around Hazel’s shoulders. Red turned to Percy. 

“Do me a favour, would you?” She asked, and he raised his hand, a wave of water appearing out of no-where and washing the paint from her face. Annabeth beamed.   
“Piper! I was hoping it was you” She said, and Piper grinned. Blue looked a little dazed.   
“Hang on, let me guess; Jason? Is that you under there?” Annabeth asked, and Blue pulled off his mask- and there sat Jason, his short blonde hair sticking up from being in his mask, but Annabeth could tell that Piper didn’t seem to mind. 

“Oh thank the Gods, now you two can finally get your act together and hook up” Percy said, and Piper raised an eyebrow.   
“You can’t say much Typhoon, but thanks for the support. Who are you by the way?” She replied. He pulled off his mask, running a hand through his hair, and Jason clapped his shoulder, grinning widely.   
“Thank the Gods, I thought you were one of the Stoll brothers” 

Percy laughed, and everyone turned their attention to Annabeth. She looked to Percy, who nodded and grinned, and she let the feathers go.   
“Hang on; how didn’t we guess that? Smart, troubled, cranky, liked the newbie- pft, obviously Annabeth” Piper said, and Annabeth smiled.   
“Its because you’re not as smart as me” She said. Piper pulled a face.   
“So, we got duped by our boss, and not one of us caught on. I must admit, Chiron is one sneaky dude” Leo said, though he didn’t look mad about it at all.   
“Well he had to be sneaky to fool Annabeth; she’s like a daughter to him, she’d be first to catch on” Hazel chuckled.   
“To be honest, I’m glad he hired us all; I feel closer to all of you guys now I know who you really are, and you’re not just some random strangers” Percy reasoned.   
“Maybe that was his plan all along” Rachel said in amusement. Annabeth wondered if she’d foreseen this moment and knew who they were all along. It wouldn’t surprise her. 

 

Leo left not long after to pick up Calypso (Annabeth reluctantly handed Piper ten bucks) and prepare for his interview, and Rachel went to find Tyson and stop him from causing mass destruction to priceless Roman artefacts, leaving all the couples together on the couches. Annabeth never imagined she’d be in that group, she assumed that she’d find an empty room somewhere and read latin texts, or take notes on the architecture of the building- it was truly stunning, completely true to ancient Roman structures except for the indoor plumbing and lighting. She kind of wanted to study the beams that ringed the courtyard, the mosaics on the floors, the busts of famous Roman leaders- but then she was comfortable on the couch, leaning against Percy and looking at it all from there. She didn’t want to go and fight tomorrow; she wanted to stay in this beautiful house with her friends, design more villas with bigger baths, large terraces overlooking Olympus. That was the problem with letting Old Annabeth come back; she was the one that was distracted enough to not notice her mother needing help until it was too late. 

“Wise Girl, did you hear me?” Percy’s voice brought her back to earth, pulling her from her thoughts.   
“What?” She asked.   
“I asked if you wanted to go outside- you look troubled” He said. She nodded and they got up, wandering out into the courtyard with the fountain. Annabeth hadn’t even noticed that night had fallen. Praetor and her troops were gone, marching off to Othrys to destroy Kronos’ seat of power. Stars scattered across the sky above, and Annabeth could make out all the constellations that her father had taught her when she was little and they didn’t fight all the time. She joined Percy and sat on the edge of the fountain, looking up at the little lights that looked a lot smaller than what they were.   
“Talk to me Annabeth, what’s up?” Percy asked.   
“Its just- Your Mom said that I should let go, and I know I should. But now I have, I feel like I’m turning back into the person that watched my Mom die. I’m just turning back into her again”   
“Annabeth, you learned from that. You’re not gonna be her again. Trust me, you’re stronger, and you’re braver, and you’re better than that girl; but you’re Annabeth too. Which means some of her is still there” Percy told her, and Annabeth tore her eyes away from the stars to look at him instead. He had all this faith in her, so much hope for the world and she wondered how he did that. He just believed that everything would always be alright. 

“I missed being Annabeth” She admitted, and Percy chuckled.   
“Well good; and I’ll make sure she doesn’t leave again, how’s that?”   
“That’s good. We should sleep now- we have a busy day tomorrow” 

Percy nodded and took one long look at the stars before he got up, pulling her with him and heading up the stairs.   
“I’m guessing I’m in the room I woke up in” He assumed, and Annabeth nodded.   
“I’m next door. It’s a pretty big bed, much comfier too…”   
“Is that an invitation wise girl?” Percy asked, and she nodded.   
“I sleep better with you there” She admitted.   
“Well then, I’m in. I didn’t like that room anyway”

Annabeth laughed and opened the door to her room, which was much comfier, with a bigger bed since she wasn’t out cold and chose a good room when she arrived. She changed into the pyjamas Praetor had brought to her, and Percy just took his suit off, not even bothering to throw anything else on, and they curled up together under the sheets. Annabeth could smell the sea, and the roses from the oil in Percy’s hair, and she fell asleep with no weight on her shoulders and a smile on her face. Tomorrow could come if it wished, and bring with it all the chaos of a war. But tonight, Annabeth would sleep peacefully, under Percy’s arm, warm and uncaring of the world.


	14. Chapter 14

Annabeth was woken by Percy the next morning. She didn’t want to get up; the morning air was cold and there was a sharp wind whistling outside, as if the world was expecting the storm that was about to brewed. 

“Come on Wise Girl, its time to save the world” He told her, and she huffed, opening one eye to glare at him.   
“You’re not a morning person really, are you?” He asked, smiling a little, and she shook her head. She was always cranky when she first woke up.   
“Five more minutes” She grumbled, but Percy pulled her into a sitting position, not helping her mood.   
“Oh no Annabeth, we gotta get moving; final battle today. When we win, then you can take a nap. Or several” He said. That sounded like a good offer, and eventually Annabeth’s eyes didn’t feel like lead so she heaved herself up, pulling on her hero suit and bringing out her feathers. Percy did the same, though not before Annabeth took a good look at him without it- she was pretty pleased, and quite irritated that his suit covered all of him. 

“Morning lovebirds!” Piper called from the fountain when Annabeth and Percy left the room- she was putting on her paint, white and red, with a steady hand and no mirror. Annabeth was impressed, though Red had been putting on her war paint for years; she had to be an expert at it by now.   
“Sup little Red? Where are the others?” Percy called, mask still hanging off his suit, grinning down at her.   
“Waiting inside; Leo announced that you were all beaten up, and Nico called to say that Luke and Thalia are taking their army toward Othrys, So I’ll be going ahead to turn them around” 

“You’ll need backup; take Tyson with you in case things go sour, okay?” Annabeth said, and Piper nodded, putting down her paintbrush and ran inside. She returned with the Cyclops and sprung towards the opposite edge of the courtyard, which had no railing and led to a high drop from a cliff. Piper vanished over the edge, and Annabeth turned to Percy.   
“You grab Jason and Leo” She commanded “Get the storm brewing” 

Percy nodded and ran down the stairs, and within seconds he emerged with Jason and Leo, the curly haired boy looking cranky and trying not to drop the stack of toast in his hands. Jason grabbed him and then they too vanished over the edge of the cliff before soaring upward, flying toward the city like a flock of mismatched birds. Annabeth watched them with her expert vision until they were nothing more than a speck in the distance and she headed down to the rest of the team. Centurion, Shifter, Oracle and Calypso were sitting on the couches, waiting for Annabeth. Nico lurked in a corner nearby, not quite part of the group, but not apart from them either.

“Night Owl, is it time?” Oracle asked, red hair tucked into a hat and green eyes staring a hole into the side of her head. Rachel always had very intense eyes, which was only heightened by an impending vision. Annabeth nodded.   
“Take a look Oracle, what do we have to do?” She asked. Rachel crossed her legs and placed her palms flat on her knees, eyes glazing over and becoming milky. Annabeth was always intrigued by Rachel’s powers; sometimes the visions forced themselves upon her, other times she looked into the future by herself. She muttered sometimes, about someone named Delphi, the spirit, and Annabeth had a feeling that sometimes it wasn’t just the Oracle that she was talking to. Everyone was silent whilst Rachel saw the future, Calypso looking shocked, the others used to it. 

“The surprise attack will work, but there’s something- a hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap. The blade from the museum” Rachel breathed, her hands twitching on her knees.   
“The blade? Which one, the museum is filled with blades” Hazel pointed out. Rachel took a sharp inhale.   
“Which one indeed? There are three blades on the battlefield that have curses on them; Hercules’s curse, Kronos’ curse, Athena’s curse. There’s also…the huntress will fall”   
“Thalia” Annabeth said, shaking her head “No, it can’t be Thalia!”   
“The Huntress shall fall. I see flashes, lines of a prophecy, it is coming together- Delphi is giving me the fragments- I just- I just need- oh” Rachel said, and then her eyes became completely white. This was a very rare occurrence, when she sprouted prophecies. Annabeth had only seen this one other time, and that wasn’t all that fun either. Rachel began to shake, smoke pouring from her mouth, and it was another voice that spoke; an old, powerful voice that made Annabeth feel cold. 

“A storm across the city spreads,   
The earth collapses where heroes tread,   
Enemies stir from a long, deep sleep,   
A hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap,   
The Angel thief will answer the call,   
And to the stars, the Huntress shall fall” 

Rachel returned to her normal self, and Shifter caught her before she could fall forwards onto the hard floor. Annabeth was shaken; Huntress will fall? Angel thieves? Earth collapsing? None of the lines of the prophecy sounded reassuring.   
“Did anyone understand any of that?” Calypso asked shakily. Nico was staring at Rachel with a strange expression; he was thinking about something, maybe he knew something, but Annabeth knew he would never tell them what it was. Nico was even more secretive than she was. 

“I didn’t, but then prophecies only make sense after its happened” Centurion shrugged, and she too looked unsure.   
“Well it didn’t fill me with confidence; lets go and find out what it all meant” Nico said, turning and walking toward a dark corner in the room. Calypso looked confused, about to point him in the direction of the door, until he stepped into the shadows and vanished.   
“Yeah, he doesn’t do walking. We better go too. Calypso, I think there’s a Pegasus in the stables outside; its quicker than running, plus you can help from the skies in battle” Centurion suggested, and Calypso nodded. It was time to get moving, even though the prophecy was already heavy on Annabeth’s shoulders. After trying not to fight Thalia, trying to get her back on their side, she was going to fall anyway. A heaviness settled on Annabeth's shoulders, and she remembered that it was the same feeling she got after watching her mother fall. 

The chosen battlefield didn't look out of the ordinary; typical empty plot of land yet to be built on, probably a future home to big sky scrapers or something of the like. Annabeth scanned the area, eyeing the rapidly greying sky and trying to push down the unease in her stomach. The lines of the prophecy were stuck in her head, her analytical brain trying desperately to figure them out in a way that meant positive outcomes from the battle. Something that would keep Thalia alive and their enemies dead. Nico was now wearing armour, which looked a little small on him and carrying a blade that Annabeth had never seen before. Percy, Jason and Leo were up in the air somewhere; Annabeth caught occasional sightings of them as they worked on a storm. Hazel was kneeling down, palms flat against the earth, muttering and occasionally nodding to herself as she felt for ways to collapse the ground. She was nervous, watching her friends work, and felt totally useless- without any special powers of her own, she couldn't prepare for the battle they way they were. All she could do was think- and Gods she was wishing she could stop for a moment. 

 

"They're coming!" Someone bellowed. Annabeth froze and listened to the steady thud-thud of numerous footsteps. She turned, eventually, and saw Piper first; calling to the army of monsters that trailed behind her in a daze, leading them toward their chosen battleground. Luke and Thalia led the hundreds of monsters, and Annabeth was disappointed to see a few flashes of silver in the mix; hunters that had re-joined their old leiutenant. 

"It doesn't have to be this way, Night Owl! You can help us! You don't have to die!" Luke called, sauntering along as if he'd already won; though, since only Annabeth and Piper were currently visible, it probably looked that way to him.   
"No one is dying today" Annabeth called back, a silent promise in her words as she watched Thalia.   
"Oh, but they are. See, we've figured out how to wake Kronos. Something we found out from Mrs Jackson; we need your blood, Annabeth. Blood of a chosen hero to wake him up; he wants you" Luke drawled. Hazel had appeared from her assessment of the ground, and Frank had snuck into Luke's forces, resembling a hellhound. Nico had also materialised, something of a growl rumbling in his throat as he looked at their opponents. 

"And you think I'll give myself to you? I'd rather die" She spat. He smirked.   
"And you will- if you resist. Only a drop will do" He told her. Thalia grimaced.   
"Night Owl- please just-" 

The sky overhead rumbled with thunder, the wind picking up and rain beginning to lash down on the ground, quickly turning it muddy and soft. Luke squinted upward but couldn't see the three demigods in the storm; though with her excellent vision Annabeth could make out Percy, and then Jason, who was carrying Leo bridal style through the crowds. No doubt Leo was yelling.   
"You made your choice, then" Luke said. Annabeth fixed him with the coldest glare she possessed.   
"There was no choice to make; you were against me the moment you and Huntress got involved with Kronos. You won't listen to reason...so we're going to stop you. Shifter, now!" 

Several monsters fell with guttural cries and pandemonium broke out, monsters rearing away from the strange happenings. A well-aimed bolt of lightning struck the scattering horde, and small fireballs began falling from the sky. Annabeth and Nico shot forward, blades raised and plunged into the fray, Annabeth ducking under claws and tails with agility that only came with being in battle. Nico was vanishing and re-appearing left-right and centre, like he was made of smoke. From above, a silvery pegasi swooped in and Calypso shot arrows from his back, looking like she was having the time of her life. 

"Tyson makes things go BOOM!" A very familiar voice called, and Tyson flattened several monsters with one terrifyingly impressive hulk smash- Annabeth gave him a wide berth for her own personal safety, and Annabeth dived further into the fight with determination blazing in her chest.


	15. Chapter 15

They had the upper hand- until they didn't. 

The earth rumbled and began to collapse underfoot, thanks to Hazel's powers; Annabeth had to fly upward lest she get sucked into the sudden chasm that appeared under her along with several telkhines, ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tyson ended up waist-deep in the mud, flailing and bonking hydras on the heads when they too were buried, like a game of whack-a-monster. The storm was getting worse, to the point where even Annabeth could hardly see through it, and Piper's charmspeak was lost to the wind. Luckily she was a good fighter, or she'd have been seriously hurt. 

Annabeth hit the floor as a telkhine slammed into her, and she rolled, producing her talons and lashing out at the monster. Something sharp caught her arm, tearing away the feathers and breaking the skin and she yelled, getting her own back with a knife to it's chest. She'd brought her Mom's knife from the museum; cursed or not she could use it, and the remaining poison on the blade killed her opponents twice as quickly.

 

"SOMETHINGS HAPPENING!" Hazel's voice yelled shrilly. The rumbling continued, as if someone had set a giant whisk into the earth and put it on high; the mud covered Annabeth, coating her feathers, and it was all she could do not to get blinded by the sudden wave of earth that was being displaced, from something below pushing it aside. Her blood ran cold.   
"Enemies stir...EVERYONE LOOK OUT!" Annabeth screamed. Leo had descended from the clouds, completely on fire, and yelped as a hand clawed its way upward, dragging a body along with it. He only just avoided being taken down, and slammed into a group of harpies, who screamed as the flames burned them.  
"Hunters approach!" Thalia's voice chimed in, and Annabeth looked around for her wildly, spotting her fighting Nico, a bloody cut on her forehead. 

The team of hunters almost fell into the earth before they got the chance to fight, as someone came out of the earth right where they'd been running. 

"The first team- Gods, its- its-"   
Annabeth knew what Piper was saying; she'd memorised the faces of their parents from frequent visits to their memorials, and now they were dragging themselves from the earth, full of fury and somehow, back from the dead. Nico was yelling, laughing madly.  
"Fighting on this land only wakes up the ones who fell here!" He cackled, and smacked Thalia with his sword, knocking her to the ground before he vanished. Annabeth ran toward her, but she was stopped by a horde of monsters- by the time she'd killed them, she couldn't find her.

"You're not the only one with help, heroes!" Luke cried, half-mad, as more bodies climbed onto the surface; the anti-heroes, the titans that had worked with Gaea, grinning and raising heavy-looking swords. A woman swept across the battlefield with ease, striking Monsters down easily, and Annabeth's chest felt tight.  
"Mom" She breathed, as Athena passed by her and surveyed the battle as if it was a puzzle.   
"Well, there's your prophecy. Once more for old times' sake, Wise girl?"   
Annabeth fought by her mother's side as if she'd never died. 

 

"Father, if anyone is fighting you, its me!" Zoe Nightshade bellowed, striding over the churning earth toward a man in the starry armour. He held a huge clump of earth on his shoulders, about to throw it, before he spotted his challenger and smirked.   
"I'll have fun killing you, daughter"   
Annabeth didn't have time to watch, she was too busy keeping a hellhound from using her as a chew toy. More bolts of lightning came from above, jets of water and small bursts of flame- this was more chaos than Annabeth had ever seen at once.   
"This is where they died, if they can come back-" Nico was muttering, wrestling a telkhine to the ground and slashing at a dracanae as she tried to bite him. 

Annabeth was used to winning; she was a hero of Olympus, daughter of one of the first team, she never lost to anyone she faced in battle. She was tiring, beaten and a little bloody, but she was determined her streak wouldn't be ruined by her old friends. Luke and Thalia had vanished, she couldn't see them when she spared a glance around, and she worried; did they run and re-group, run to attack elsewhere, raise Kronos another way? Would Thalia be too far away for Annabeth to save her, or would the prophecy come true? 

"Nico, my son-" Hades said from behind, and Annabeth couldn't help but turn, ducking under a sword that flew over her head. Hades' son was being overrun, Hades himself was surrounded, as if the monsters had a personal vendetta against them. As Hades was the one who managed to lock them away years ago, banish them from the city, it wasn't surprising. Annabeth ran to help Nico, panicking as his head vanished under the weight of monsters pressing in on him, because she'd promised that nobody would die goddammit, she wouldn't have it- 

Annabeth got within a foot of the monsters before a bright light blasted her backward, winding her as she landed spread-eagled on the floor. Something else surrounded Nico now, apart from the dust of burned monsters- something good and protective. The light gathered above him, in the form of a girl that resembled him the way only a true sibling can. Annabeth watched, transfixed as the ghost of Bianca Di Angelo repelled any monster that got anywhere near them, allowing Nico time to clamber to his feet.   
"You- you came" He croaked, and his sister smiled.   
"You called. I had to come this time- to protect my little brother"   
Nico smiled widely, and Annabeth pulled herself up, feeling like she was interrupting a private moment. 

"You have my knife. I suggest you hand it over, and end this fight" Athena said, once Annabeth caught up with her. Annabeth offered the knife to her mother; she'd died with it in her hand, it needed to return to its owner, but the woman shook her head.   
"No, not me. You'll know, Annabeth- you always know" Was all she said. They got separated soon after, but Annabeth kept hearing the words as if her mother was repeating them in her ear.   
"Eat my fire, suckers!" Leo yelled as he zoomed overhead like a rocket, setting several monsters on fire and plenty of Annabeth's feathers, which she'd yell at him for later. Percy was back on the ground now too, a small storm swirling furiously around him, destroying everyone in sight alongside what could only be his father.   
"These monsters are endless! I thought we'd come in time to miss the big bit!" Someone bleated nearby, and Annabeth heard the unmistakable sound of pipes being played. Grass grew around her feet, and roots shot from the ground, tangling monsters and the anti-heroes.

Slowly, too slowly, the monsters thinned. The sky had gone dark and calmed as the boys lost their energy, the storm dying now its job was done. It became more like 'make sure everything was dead' rather than 'don't get killed', Annabeth and her side picking through the monsters and stabbing the ones still breathing and/or not charred into dust, whilst their parents finished their battles with the anti-heroes, the enemies sinking back into the earth as if they'd never existed. Hazel had sat on the ground nearby, protected by Nico and Bianca, and began sinking the monsters, small jewels replacing them. 

"Thalia" Annabeth called, startled to see that the black haired girl had remained, kneeled over a body. Annabeth stopped breathing for a moment.   
"Annie. Annie he's- Kronos is going to take him. Annie I don't know what to do" Thalia said, looking distrought. Annabeth crashed down next to her, looking down at Luke Castellan, who seemed to be having trouble not combusting. He coughed, and golden light came from his mouth like steam.

"I'm an idiot- I-I see it now. Dragging everyone into this. Gods I nearly killed you-"   
"Luke, breathe" Thalia commanded. Luke's breathing was ragged. Annabeth knew it was the end of him. Despite what he had done, she felt tears welling; he was her friend, they used to eat dinner together and occasionally go to movies and when he was at their apartment he always used to make sure she was looking after herself and listened to her ramble about work. Seeing him like this- she couldn't hate him now. 

"I ain't gonna- hold him. He'll kill me and everyone here. I gotta- I gotta stop him" Luke choked. Annabeth sighed.   
"Its too late" She said. Luke shook his head.   
"N-No. If I die before he takes over he can't come back-"   
"Luke you're not dying on me, you hear me?" Thalia growled "You're not dying"   
"I did this. I gotta put it right. Annabeth- please..." He said "I can stop it" 

Annabeth remembered her mother's words and pressed the knife into Luke's shaking hand. He smiled at her like he used to years ago, when nothing was broken and he cared for her like a sister. Annabeth missed those times.   
"Thank you. I'm so sorry..." he told her. He looked sincere, his gaze was strong even when he was fading. Thalia was shaking her head, words stuck in her throat. Annabeth pulled her back, and she struggled.   
"No! Annie no! You can't let him do this!" She screamed. Annabeth had never seen her like this, and even though it hurt, she kept a tight hold of her.   
"He has to! Its his choice! He has to make this right!" She replied. Thalia fell limp as Luke raised the knife, smiling at the pair.   
"My girls" He said, grinning like he used to when he was being cheeky "You two be good, got it?"   
And then he plunged the knife into his chest. 

 

It was sort of like a movie; everything slowed down at that point. Luke's eyes turned glassy, his face went slack, the ghost of his smile fading away. At the exact same moment, every first team hero and surviving titan turned to stone, just like statues. They crumbled away slowly in the wind, until nothing remained, and the last of the storm died too. Thalia threw herself across Luke's chest, pulling out the knife and sobbing, truly sobbing.   
"Lieutenant!" Erica cried, the huntress running to her fallen leader. Her father had struck her with his sword, his last act on this earth and Annabeth watched with a numbness in her chest.   
'And to the stars, the huntress will fall' .  
It wasn't Thalia who was destined to die, but Zoe. The circlet that she had worn was on the ground a few feet away, stained red with her blood.   
"A-Night owl! Are you okay?" Percy demanded, appearing beside her and checking her face worriedly. She nodded, sighing as he inspected the cuts and bruises and other such injuries she'd gained in the fight but could no longer feel through dull grief and not-quite faded adrenaline.  
"I'm fine" She said hollowly. He glanced over at Thalia and Luke, and engulfed her in a hug. She buried her head in his should and tried not to think of anything at all.


	16. Chapter 16

In total, twelve hunters had died, and no one had gotten away without injury. The remaining Artemis girls had taken their fallen comrades' bodies and performed a burning ritual in the woods, attended by Thalia, who was offered her previous position as lieutenant. Annabeth wasn't mad that she accepted it, she just knew that she'd miss her best friend. They'd barely talked since the battle, two weeks of silence and being fixed up by Mrs Jackson in the makeshift infirmary she'd set up in the museum. She'd make a permanent home there now, the Museum their base. 

"Luke is being buried next to his Mom" Thalia told Annabeth the day she was leaving on the hunt, both of them knowing that she wouldn't be back for a long time but neither of them mentioning it. Time healed all wounds, but some much slower than others. Annabeth hoped that when she returned she'd be stronger than before. Thalia had been patient with her when Annabeth had lost her Mom; she would be patient now. Thalia needed that. 

"The people were mixed about him getting a hero's award; half of them don't think he deserves it"   
"Well that half can just lump it; you come back soon, okay?" Annabeth told her. Thalia hugged her tight enough to hurt before backing away, giving her one last smile before turning and joining her hunters. Annabeth turned and joined her new family, too; maybe it was best for both of them that they stay apart for a while. 

 

The heroes were front-page news for weeks; all of them receiving awards and being questioned about what happened. Praetor returned with her troops and declared her battle won too, with far fewer casualties, and to Leo's extreme envy- actual war cannons and scorpion ballistae. Annabeth visited the villa a few times, exchanging tips on architecture and running a legion and soon, the two became on much better terms than before. Leo and Calypso were the official voices of the team, and somehow managed to get the public to start buying merchandise that Annabeth didn't know they were making, and soon her hero face was on the front of every kids' lunchbox and they stopped her for autographs. Blue Spark and Red Woman were constantly going into schools to encourage positive behaviour, and they moved on from the battle not by detaching themselves from the city, but connecting to it like never before.

"Hey Wise Girl, haven't you heard? its your night off tonight" A quiet voice said, catching Annabeth by surprise as she sat on her favourite rooftop, away from the others and the people who stopped her. Percy stood behind her, wearing a smart suit and green tie that matched his eyes. Obviously, Juniper had picked it out for him.   
"Why are you all dressed up?" She asked curiously, sliding off the edge of the roof and toward him, her feathers fading immediately.   
"Well, I was hoping to take my girlfriend out to dinner since we missed Christmas, but she's always busy with work..."   
Annabeth sighed.   
"I forgot. I'm sorry" She said, and he laughed, kissing her forehead.   
"Don't worry about it, luckily I have a friend who makes mean enchiladas; and I brought dinner to you" He told her brightly, producing a small picnic basket from no where. She laughed.   
"Why are you so sweet to me?" She asked, as Percy pulled out a blanket and spread it out on the rooftop. Annabeth joined him in sitting on it.   
"Because you deserve it. And I am making up for the anniversaries that I will likely forget"   
"Ah. Knew there was a reason" She said, not mad in the slightest about the possibility of him forgetting anniversaries- the fact that he was planning to stick around long enough for them to have them was enough for her. The promise of something permanent; that was what Annabeth dreamed of. 

It was a wonderful night, one of the first of many rooftop dates that the pair would have, and it marked the start of a new life for Annabeth; balancing her hero/normal identities, learning that sleeping in was not a crime, nor was sleeping over- she didn't believe in happily ever afters, but she was certain this was as close as she'd ever been.   
She wanted to build something permanent; and this was how it started. 

*1 year later*   
"Do you agree to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"   
"I do" 

Annabeth beamed at Percy as the vows were exchanged, a beautiful ceremony organised by yours truly, Piper helping out with colour pallets and dress designing. The small group of guests were tearing up, Piper and Jason sharing a handkerchief in the front row, Leo struggling with his tie just behind them. Percy, holding a gorgeous golden wedding ring, shook his new step-father's hand and handed it to him, looking delighted as Paul Blofis placed it carefully on his mother's finger. Annabeth handed Sally her ring and met Percy's eyes across them, trying not to laugh as her boyfriend looked ready to combust. The couple kissed and officially became husband and wife, and Piper and Hazel clapped the loudest and waved at the pair. 

 

The wedding went seamlessly; bride, groom and guests moved from the ceremony to the party, situated in the grand hall of the museum- it was a favourite for weddings.   
"How does it feel Mrs Blofis? Told you It'd be perfect" Annabeth beamed, finding the bride greeting guests. She looked beautiful in her white dress, dark hair braided intricately about her head like a crown, veil so long that it blended into her dress at the bottom. Annabeth was so used to seeing Sally in jeans and shirts that were covered in stains- she was just as astounded by how gorgeous she was as she was the first time she'd seen her during her fitting. Sally had always been beautiful- but she'd never glowed with happiness quite this much.  
"Oh Annabeth, thank you so much for organising this- its so wonderful" She gushed, hugging her tightly. Annabeth laughed.   
"You're like a mom to me, Sally; I was happy to organise your wedding. You deserve a perfect day" She told her. Sally looked a little teary.   
"Don't make me cry Annabeth! Piper did a great job on my make-up!"   
"Hey, I've already cried; I look like a mess" She grinned. Sally patted her cheek.   
"You look radiant Annabeth; my son is very lucky"   
At the mention of him, Percy appeared, hugging his mother and kissing her cheek. 

"Hey Mom. Piper says we're ready for speeches before dinner- she wants you at the top table" He told her. Sally nodded and headed off, leaving Annabeth and Percy alone. Percy reached out for her immediately, pulling her to him and kissing her.   
"You look good" He murmured against her mouth. She hummed.   
"Silver is my colour" Was her reply. Percy's hands wound around her waist, skimming across the fabric, making Annabeth shiver.   
"I really can't handle you in this dress" He admitted "I almost carried you away half-way through the ceremony"   
"I wouldn't have minded" Annabeth laughed "But Piper would kill us"   
"Worth it" He said, kissing her again. He'd already loosened his tie and unbuttoned his suit jacket, which was tailored to fit him perfectly, and even though Percy hated suits, Annabeth thought they made him look drool-worthy. Almost as drool-worthy as his hero suit, which hugged every inch of him... 

"Hey, keep it PG, there are children present" A flowery voice said, laughter in her voice, and Annabeth looked over Percy's shoulder to where Juniper was stood, amused, rocking a small child on her hip. The baby was under a year old, but already sporting a full head of curly hair and a taste for keys and other metal objects.   
"hello there little man!" Percy greeted "Sorry but this Lady is taken, you're gonna have to charm someone else" 

Both Juniper and Annabeth rolled their eyes whilst the baby boy clapped and reached for his Godfather as he always did whenever he saw him. Percy spun the child around, pretending he was an airoplane and making whooshing noises. The baby giggled madly.   
"Okay, don't make him sick, I'm wearing nice clothes today" Juniper giggled, and brushed down her dark green dress as if worried her son had already splattered some form of baby food or vomit on it. The baby laughed and blew rasperries, and Annabeth pinched his cheek.   
"Cutie pie. You're just like your papa" She told him. The baby didn't understand what she said, but he grasped the affection and beamed at her, waving his little fists and babbling in his baby language.   
"Come on you guys, everyone else is sat down!" Piper cried, marching over meaning business. Juniper claimed back her son and swept over to her assigned table, taking a seat next to Grover and placing their child in a high-chair between them. Annabeth and Percy made their way to the top table and sat in their seats, beside each other. Percy held her hand beneath the table and she smiled.   
"You're nervous about your speech" She assumed.   
"You need to stop freaking me out by reading my mind" He replied. She kissed his cheek.   
"You'll be fine" 

Of course, Percy dropped his notes twice, couldn't work the microphone and stuttered for the first thirty seconds of his speech- but what he said about his mother and father in law reduced everyone in the room to tears, including Annabeth.   
"W- how are you suddenly so good with words?" She demanded. Every time Percy tried to tell her some romantic speech, he stuttered so bad she had to kiss him to shut him up. Percy blushed.   
"I-uh. Practiced. A lot. Jason helped me rehearse" He said, and she smiled. He was the sweetest dork she knew.   
"Well it was beautiful. I wondered where you were going every week" She mused. He rubbed the back of his head.   
"I thought you'd laugh at me"   
"Seaweed brain, I'm not cruel- I'll laugh at you when we get home" She told him, and he laughed, relaxing immediately. 

Hazel recorded Sally and Paul's first dance as husband and wife and then other couples joined them- Percy and Annabeth took some convincing, but eventually they too slow danced to a love song- okay, they leaned from side to side; neither of them had taken the available dance lessons that Piper had suggested. Grover was chasing his son around the dance floor as he wobbled, unbalanced, but still managing to outrun his father. Annabeth knew he'd be passed out in under than an hour though, giving his parents a well-deserved break. 

 

At the end of the party, Annabeth and Percy stayed behind to help Percy's parents in saying goodbye to everyone, helping the more drunken guests into taxis and giving directions to others.   
"Bye you two- see you on wednesday- dinner at ours, okay?" Calypso said, hugging both of them and smiling.   
"Yep, just don't let Leo cook again, I like food that isn't on fire" Percy told her. She laughed and nodded.   
"I'll be cooking this time- I've banned him from the kitchen" Calypso confirmed.   
She left, arm around a slightly drunk Leo, and Percy turned to Annabeth. 

"Should we go home?" He asked. Annabeth, very much enjoying that 'going home' meant taking Percy with her, nodded almost eagerly. They said goodbye to Sally and Paul who were also on their way out, and set off down the street.   
"Have you heard from Thalia?" Percy asked, draping his jacket around her shoulders as she shivered in the chilly night air.   
"Yeah, she said the hunt is going well; she plans to visit sometime this month. Visit Luke's grave" She confirmed.   
"That's good; its been too long"   
"It has"   
There was quiet for a moment, the pair wandering home in an easy silence. 

"I really enjoyed that wedding" Percy said cheerfully, lacing their hands together and swinging them between them.   
"So did I" Annabeth agreed.   
"We should have one"   
"A party?"   
"A wedding. Not right now, but-"   
"Yeah, yeah- Maybe we should"   
Annabeth didn't need to look at Percy to know that he was smiling, and she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face too. Percy squeezed her hand.   
"I'm glad you said that Wise Girl- I can sleep easy now"   
Annabeth laughed, nudging Percy with her shoulder. She was blushing, definitely, but in the best way.   
"You're an idiot, seaweed brain"   
"And you love me for it" Percy sang.   
"Yes, yes I do"   
And they went home. A few months later, Annabeth was wearing an engagement ring. She never wore it when on patrols, in case it got lost or damaged, but otherwise she never took it off. She was certain she never would.


End file.
